


Imaginary Devils

by rvst



Series: We Three Idiots [6]
Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: F/F, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-29
Updated: 2015-08-10
Packaged: 2018-03-04 06:00:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 89,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2954825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rvst/pseuds/rvst
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Is there no way to phrase ‘we had totally innocent dancing times that were fun’ without it sounding sexual?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Captain

When you achieve your dreams, all that remains are your nightmares.

 

Her Mother was dead, or at least banished. She had no brothers or sisters and she found herself planning for more than a few months ahead. These were actions that were last taken when her heart still beat and her body was warm. Now, she didn’t need a heartbeat, a tiny, adorable yet oddly determined journalist tucked herself into a cold neck while the warmth of long, graceful limbs thrown over the both of them made her feel safe beyond all logic. For the first time since she was alive, Carmilla couldn’t wait for each and every new dawn.

 

She tangled a hand in Laura’s hair and burrowed further underneath the covers to fight off the chill of winter with Danny’s ridiculously high body heat. Carmilla, several hours before her natural bedtime, allowed herself to close her eyes and drift away. Sleep met her eventually, a usually pleasant darkness exploded, grasping her neck and dragging her down towards the fire.

 

* * *

Carmilla presumed she was drugged somehow. Possibly starved. She couldn’t remember how she got to this dark, dank and collapsing chapel in a ruin of a castle. A brief spark of remembrance lit up in her mind, the burning flames surrounding the dilapidated building choked it out. Fear raced up her spine and it didn’t feel out of place. It wasn’t Mother, waiting patiently for her dear daughter to do as she’s told. Mother wouldn’t start fires, they burned away everything. Especially beings of power. Carmilla stumbled backwards, away from the windows and away from the flames. Every stone in the walls screamed at her, for the victims she led to the slaughter and for those she failed to save. They screamed and screamed until Carmilla joined them. Her voice intertwined with a desperate pain and loss.

 

Horses approached.

 

She could hear them, they silenced her wailing. At least three, though more could have been masked by the cracking of stone under extreme heat. Carmilla gathered her many layers of skirts to retreat further into the relative safety of the burning chapel. Away from the wooden doors, barred with heavy, old iron poles. The horses’ galloping grew to a deafening roar of hooves and shouting men. Carmilla found herself breathing heavily, the heat of the fires sucking air away from her. The horses stopped suddenly. Heavy, wet footfalls, boots on muddy terrain. They grew to slamming strides as the men reached the paved stairway to the chapel. The men, four of them, she could hear each individual wild heartbeat.

 

No, five. One of them was perfectly calm.

 

The four rightfully afraid men approached cautiously, taking tiny steps once they reached the top of the stairs. The fifth continued to walk the stairs leisurely, nonplussed by the flames and what they had to know was concealed inside them. Camilla heard two of the men whisper her name. Called her ‘Countess’. She knew they were here for her, they drugged her. Chased her. Tried to set her on fire. Were coming to finish the job. The four debated among themselves the best way to enter the chapel. One of them voted courageously to allow the flames to do their work and exterminate the vermin. The fifth remained silent, stopping on the last step.

 

Carmilla found an undamaged bench to sit on, weighing her options carefully. She could run past the men, she was certainly fast enough to befuddle five ordinary human men. Or she could remove them entirely. Hide the bodies. Mangle them beyond all recognition, leave no trace. Her body hungered for blood, they must have kept her running. Unable to feed for more than a few days, the men might stand a chance. Grab one of them, feed fast. Slaughter the rest and deal with the bodies later. Strip them and toss them into their own fire.

 

The four men stopped deliberating suddenly. The fifth man strode forwards, taking even, unhurried steps. His boots did not have the wet squelching of his friends’, they clicked audibly atop the stone. He stopped before the door. Carmilla could see his shadow in the moonlight barely winning the fight against the flames. The screaming stones fell silent all at once. The flickering of the fire slowed, blurred. She felt his hand rise to press against the wood.

 

“Break it down.”

 

Carmilla jolted. The fifth was no man, as she heard her boots click away again. Her heart remained steady, peaceful among sudden roaring fire. The screaming stayed silent. Carmilla had no time for guilt, for remorse or second-guessing. They were going to break down the door, try to kill her. Now, rather than await the flames to do their job.

 

One of the four fearful ones threw his body into the door, dislodging part of the nearly worn away roof, but little else. Another one threw himself against the sturdy wood, more burning wood fell around Carmilla. She sat patiently as the four of them took turns attempting to injure their shoulders. The door and its iron locks refused to move more than an inch. The fifth, the woman, seemed to read her thoughts and descended the stairs as slowly and carefully as she had approached. Carmilla couldn’t hear what she did after that, the men started arguing about their own ineffectual techniques. They switched to damaging their knees by valiantly trying to kick the door down.

 

This carried on for several minutes. Long enough that Carmilla found herself amused by their pathetic attempts. None of the men would be in a decent condition to fight her when the heat forced her out of her refuge. She allowed herself a moment to relax.

 

The men stopped, exhausted by their long ride, followed by an impenetrable barrier to their promised revenge. They collectively gave up, one of them collapsing as his knee protested the sudden and repeated jolting against a solid object. Three other attackers laughed at his pain, one called him an old fool. Chains rattled in the distance. The men fell silent.

 

The woman returned, trailing a mass of chains with her. The chains dragged along the ground. The men asked all at once what she thought she was doing. Carmilla didn’t bother to listen for her answer, knowing that there wouldn’t be one.

 

Metal collided with wood, the woman, her heart not even speeding up from exertion, breathed long prayers in a language Carmilla couldn’t place. Which troubled her though she couldn’t understand why. The flames disappeared for a moment, the screaming returned. They came back as the screams trailed off to silence again. Carmilla stood.

 

The woman was done.

 

Whatever she had done, Carmilla didn’t see how it would help their cause. The fire wasn’t burning quickly and the walls were solid stone. They couldn’t hope to burn through enough of it to lay their hands and weapons upon her. Carmilla considered another pair of options. Preying on their probably piety, and hiding in the dust of an ancestor, crawling into a coffin. She could hide, feeding wouldn’t become a serious issue for at least another day. Death was always an option. The chance to experience something new, to awaken in a new world with new people and new ideas. It appealed in her lower moments.

 

The men scurried back down the stairs and Carmilla knew exactly what the woman intended to do.

 

She moved to the middle of the room, ripping layers of unnecessary clothing away from herself. Outside, the woman pulled her sword and adjusted her other weapons. Checking they were secure and ready. Carmilla gave her some credit. Any human who thought they could fight one of her kind on their own was worth of her respect. Then a trip to a madhouse. The men re-mounted their horses, and forced them forwards.

 

The chains pulled, scratching over the stones with an unholy racket. The horses, four of them as the woman spared her own mount the strain, raced away.

 

The woman stepped to one side. The doors flew away, revealing the moonlit night and four horses charging away despite their goal already being achieved.

 

“Cowards,” spat the woman. Carmilla could hear her lips curl into a disgusted snarl. “Like you.”

 

The woman stepped into the path of the moonlight, the fire’s light refused to touch her. Her armour was dull and well-worn, her body imposing. Carmilla, despite her strength, involuntarily took a step backwards. Her sword almost glowed. The woman, her heart maddeningly resolute in its rhythm, approached. Carmilla wanted to defend herself, but her limbs were filled with lead. Rendered inert with a fear she couldn’t describe. The woman chuckled at her inaction.

 

“Scared, monster?” Carmilla took another step backwards. The fire, comforting as it had become, disappeared the moment Carmilla looked to it as a point of safe haven. The woman wore a riding cloak over her scarred armour, its hood drawn. Though Carmilla could see her clearly in the moonlight alone, she didn’t recognise her, without a face the woman was no one. Everyone.

 

Carmilla watched the woman carefully until she had to tilt her head backwards to keep what she hoped was eye contact. The woman was even taller up close. More intimidating, the sword a more immediate. Yet Carmilla lost even her limited ability to retreat, something was binding her feet in place, her arms by her sides and her mouth incapable of speech. The woman seemed to take no notice, though her breathing did shorten. Her heart finally sped up, only a tick faster, but still a reaction to the incredibly dangerous situation this woman put herself in.

 

A hand placed itself, warm and caressing, on Carmilla’s left shoulder. She turned to stare at it as lancing heat penetrated her right side. The sword ran cleanly through her body. The woman’s heart sped up again. Carmilla’s hands found their motion, placing them firmly against the woman and using every ounce of her strength to push her away. The sword slid out as the woman kept her grip on it. She compensated, taking quick steps backwards to prevent falling over.

 

The sword flashed upwards before Carmilla could react, leaving a long red streak in her white dress as the woman sliced into her arm. Carmilla rushed backwards, fear and pain forcing her away from the woman. Her wounds stung like poison. There was no blood on the sword and it felt like she was on fire from the inside out. Carmilla focused herself to get a better look at the sword, bemused through her pain by how powerful the stinging was. It had the same shine as every other piece of metal the woman had with her. It wasn’t steel or iron, that much she could discern. She placed a hand on the gaping hole in her side, hissing at the burning sensation. Carmilla swore loudly, recognition blazing through her mind.

 

Silver. The woman brought an arsenal of silver. Utter terror chilled Carmilla to the bone.

 

“Your kind is a plague upon this world,” the woman stepped closer, sheathing her sword and pulling a crossbow from behind her back. “I intend to exterminate every last one of you.”

 

The woman raised the weapon, Carmilla remained frozen. She watched the silver-inlay designs shine, the tip of the bolt aimed directly at her heart and the woman behind it staring at her resolutely. Her blue eyes betrayed nothing.

 

“Please,” Carmilla begged. Hated herself for it in the next moment. The woman laughed at her, taking a step forward and firing.

 

The bolt struck home. Carmilla felt her heart breaking. The woman finally pulled back her hood and confidently swaggered towards the dying vampire. Her pale face and bright red hair struck Carmilla as beautiful. She hated herself again, gazing on the giant woman with the vibrant, luscious red mane and the smirk adorning her lips. Carmilla collapsed, her wounds finally winning against her will. Her knees flared with pain and she brought her hands up to break her fall. The woman stood over her, pride radiating around her. She crouched next to Carmilla, grasping her chin with a strong, steady hand.

 

“Carmilla?” The woman narrowed her eyes, inspecting every detail on Carmilla’s pale face. “Carmilla?”

 

Carmilla didn’t respond, choosing to use her last moments glaring at this woman who felled her so easily. The woman stood back up, turning her back on Carmilla’s prone form. She sat on a bench and leaned forward to watch her prey die.

 

“Why are you doing this?” Carmilla struggled to say, but forced the words out anyway. Despite not needing to do so, she found herself breathing heavily, trying to calm herself down. “What could I have possibly done to you?”

 

The woman put her crossbow down, humiliating Carmilla. She was used to being feared by humans, to have one willingly disarm herself was beyond embarrassing. A dark expression crossed her face as Carmilla’s arms gave out.

 

“Do I need a reason, Carmilla?”

 

Carmilla knew what dying felt like, and she knew she was going through it again. Some ginger giant bested her, rooted her to the ground in fear and ruthlessly used one of her only weaknesses against her. Carmilla didn’t question why she was so afraid and heartbroken by the woman’s conquering. “Unless you’re getting paid, yeah you need a reason!”

 

The woman laughed at her tortured screaming, standing to tower over her. She placed a boot on Carmilla’s shoulder, pushing her further into the cold hard ground. The crushing weight of the woman hurt even Carmilla’s durable body, were she to live the bruise would end up crossing most of her shoulder and down her back. Carmilla whined with agony, limply attempting to push herself back up, growling at her own weakness when she couldn’t.

 

“You murdered a girl I was protecting,” she spat. “I was a Guard Captain, now I hunt you and your fellow monsters.”

 

Carmilla stopped struggling. She probably had gotten the girl killed. No point fighting.

 

“Knew you’d come to see things my way.” The fire raged anew, the heat burning Carmilla’s skin. She screamed.

 

The Captain removed her boot from Carmilla’s shoulder. She raised it as Carmilla stared up through her tears of pain. She slammed it into her head and Carmilla blacked out while screaming.

 

* * *

Carmilla flung both of her arms out, catching Danny squarely in the chest while her other hand went cleanly through the wall. She was screaming and Danny yelped in surprise as she collided with Carmilla’s bed. Laura blinked her eyes slowly, panic setting in gradually. Carmilla disentangled herself from both Laura and the blanket, not taking her wide, terrified eyes off of Danny. The screaming stopped. Laura sat up to survey whatever the hell this ridiculous school was throwing at her now.

 

“Get away from me!” Carmilla ordered Danny, her voice wavering. Her hands shook and she pressed herself against the wall. Danny stared right back at her with her brows knitted together with worry and concern. She stayed on the floor, rubbing at her sternum where Carmilla’s supernatural strength connected with her very human body. Laura’s eyes flicked between Danny’s wheezing breaths and Carmilla’s wildly darting attentions, not sure who to go to first.

 

Danny recovered first, pulling her chest back into regular order and setting her shoulders firmly.

 

“Carmilla, what happened?” Danny spoke slowly, tenderly. She raised both of her hands in surrender and slowly stood up. Carmilla’s eyes followed her keenly, searching her entire body for a threat. Laura pulled herself upwards on the bed and curled up on top of their pile of pillows.

 

Carmilla gave no indication that she heard Danny speak. She spoke with none of the usual cool authority to her voice. “Just, stay there.”

 

Danny complied, her body going perfectly still though she plainly wanted to rush forwards and comfort Carmilla’s shaking body. Laura tentatively reached out to place a calming hand on her girlfriend’s arm. Carmilla responded faster than either Laura or Danny could comprehend. She dragged Laura into her arms and used her as a human shield.

 

“See?” Carmilla pulled Laura even closer into her body, holding up her free hand seemingly to ward off Danny. “She’s fine, you can leave now.”

 

“I don’t want to hurt you, Camilla.”

 

“Then leave!” Carmilla screeched. Laura winced, wishing her girlfriend didn’t have her arms pinned to her side. She could feel the vampire tremble in a way she hadn’t since her Mother was removed from Silas. Legs pressed against Carmilla’s bed, Danny noticed exactly how desperate she was, and she would have left if Laura’s wasn’t in her arms, directly in harm’s way.

 

“I’m not going to leave.” Danny sat on Carmilla’s bed, grabbing one of the few blankets remaining on the bed and wrapped it around her shoulders. “But I will stay over here if you let Laura go.”

 

“You’re lying, Captain,” Carmilla snapped at Danny, loosening her hold on Laura anyway. Instead of removing herself, Laura spun around and wrapped Carmilla in a tight hug. Instinctively, Carmilla’s arms wrapped themselves around the tiny girl. Danny’s head tilted, curiosity piqued.

 

“’Captain?’” Danny asked, pushing down her concern for Laura’s safety. If she didn’t think Carmilla was dangerous, then Danny had to trust her usually good judgement. “Not a Captain of anything, sweetie.”

 

“You’re lying!” Carmilla didn’t seem to notice Laura at all anymore. She instead surveyed the room around her, looking for a way out. Anything to get away from Danny it seemed. Danny who kept her cool and even managed what she hoped was a charming grin. Carmilla wasn’t swayed as she usually was, ignoring Danny completely. “You’re going to kill me!”

 

At this, Laura slowly extracted herself from Carmilla’s arms, thanking whoever was listening that the vampire wasn’t holding her as tightly as she could. Laura hopped off her bed. Both of her girlfriends watched her keenly, Carmilla cutting between her and Danny. She unlocked the door, opening it slightly to allow the safety lights of the hallway spill into the room. Then she fetched Carmilla’s carton of ‘soy milk’ from the mini-fridge, pouring it into the designated blood glass. She offered the drink to the still-shaking Carmilla.

 

“Drink up, you might feel better,” she offered with a cheery smile. Laura turned to her other girlfriend, making her voice even more upbeat than she thought was possible. “Please meet me in the hallway once you grab your bag.”

 

Laura turned and ran out of the room before Danny could argue with her. Carmilla held the glass of blood in her hand, but made no movements towards drinking it, keeping her intense focus. Danny reluctantly grabbed her backpack from where it had been kicked earlier in the night and followed Laura. She shut the door gently behind her with one last concerned glance at Carmilla.


	2. Near-Peace

Laura paced the width of the hallway, wringing her hands and mouthing along with her train of thought. Danny appeared in the doorway, backpack in one hand, the other clenched tightly. Laura felt her heart tug at the sight of Carmilla’s blanket wrapped around Danny’s shoulders. She continued to pace while Danny took great care in closing the door as gently and quietly as possible. Danny leaned against the wooden surface heavily, roughly dragging her free hand through her hair. She caught the blanket as it slipped from her shoulder and pulled it tightly around herself.

 

“We’ve covered this, right?” Danny asked herself as much as she was addressing Laura. “I’m as threatening as a light breeze to her. How can she possibly be this afraid?”

 

Laura was split in two, she panicked more with each lap of the hallway. Yet hearing Danny’s voice crack the same way it did when she thought Carmilla was a threat to Laura, beside herself with worry and ready to beat whatever was hurting her girl to a pulp, and now over Carmilla herself, made Laura feel somehow reassured. Despite not knowing what the hell was wrong with their girlfriend, Laura took comfort in Danny’s steadfast, if occasionally misguided, determination to protect them all.

 

“She was fine when we fell asleep,” Danny continued, wrapping her arms around her own torso. Laura stopped pacing, standing in front of Danny. “She was.”

 

Laura rubbed up and down Danny’s arms. “Something must have happened while she was asleep.”

 

Tension flowed out of Danny, relaxing her tight grip on herself as the stolen blanket started to fall again. Laura caught it easily, slowly pulling it back up to encircle her girlfriend entirely. She slipped one hand up Danny’s arm to rest on her long neck while the other drew soothing circles on her hip. Danny stared down at the usually energetic Laura, wonder and admiration adorning her features. “How are you so calm?”

 

Laura stood on her toes to reach Danny’s cheek, placing a ghost of a kiss there. “I’m not, but Carmilla’s in there, possibly hallucinating, definitely confused,” Laura stopped to lean her head over Danny’s heart. “And whatever is wrong with her, she thinks you’re going to kill her. I need to be calm.”

 

Danny rested her chin on the top of Laura’s head. She breathed in and out evenly, deliberately, trying to get her wild heartbeat under control. She wanted desperately to help Carmilla, to be strong enough to handle whatever was going wrong. Her heart refused to be tamed, blasting her mind’s eye with the image of Carmilla’s terrified face every time she blinked. Danny compensated for this failure by pulling Laura closer, willing her tiny body to impart some of its secrets to her.

 

“Calm, cool and collected is Carmilla’s thing, we kind of suck at it,” whispered Danny. She felt Laura smile through her thin pyjama tank top. “Are you really kicking me out into the cold?”

 

At that Laura laughed, quietly but it was there, and it comforted Danny more than all the hugs in the world ever could. “You have a blanket?” Laura said sweetly, pulling away slightly to pout up at her girlfriend. “I’ll go back in there and figure out what the hell just happened.”

 

Laura pressed herself back against the warm body in front of her. Danny hummed in agreement, the rumbling vibrations tickling Laura’s ear. She squirmed away. “Hey! Get back here, if I have to freeze then I want cuddles first!” Danny grinned mischievously.

 

Laura pulled Danny down to her level, pressing their lips together chastely. Danny dropped her backpack, grabbing at Laura with both hands. Laura gave up on Danny’s hip in favour of tangling both hands in the wild red hair, messed up after a long night. Their lips moved together for long, joyous seconds before Danny’s neck started to protest the stretching. Danny, not wanting to ever stop kissing Laura, lowered her hands to familiar thighs. She easily lifted Laura while spinning to pin her against the door. Laura obligingly wrapped her legs tightly around Danny.

 

Danny deepened the kiss while bracing herself against the door with one hand. Laura moaned, tugging lightly on Danny’s hair and grindingly slowly into her hips. Danny’s hand disappeared underneath Laura’s almost non-existent top, her carefully maintained nails scratching lightly as it went. For a few brief moments, they forgot about the complexities of their lives and the panic and whatever was happening to Carmilla.

 

They parted, slowly and pressed their foreheads together peacefully. Laura’s hands slipped out of Danny’s hair to cup her face tenderly.

 

“You should go,” Laura gently pushed, unwilling to open her eyes. Danny groaned in response, pressing Laura tighter against the door. “Danny!”

 

“I left my sword inside?” Danny ventured, opening one eye experimentally. Laura snorted, pushing at Danny’s strong shoulders and unwrapping her legs. Danny clutched at Laura’s waist to guide her safely back to the ground. “I probably shouldn’t go back in there.”

 

“How do I play this?” Laura asked, toying with the bottom of Danny’s grey shirt. “Do I go along with the delusion or do I try to break her out of it?”

 

Danny knelt to gather her bag from the floor, removing her spare shoes and sitting down to put them on. They wouldn’t be much help against the light dusting of snow on the ground however Danny had a lot of nervous energy to burn off so she planned on running the whole way back to the Summer Society Hunting Lodge. Her feet were going to be numb but frostbite would hopefully be avoided.

 

“Try to ease her out of it,” answered Danny. She zipped her backpack up and slung Carmilla’s blanket over one shoulder, slipping one of her pack’s straps to the other. “If that doesn’t work, go with it, find out what the hell the ‘Captain’ did to her.”

 

Laura shuffled her feet, and wanted to continue her panicked pacing. She resisted the urge. Danny watched her expectantly. “What?”

 

“My sword?” Danny prompted, poking Laura in the stomach to get her moving. “Pretty please?”

 

Laura huffed, throwing her hands up over-dramatically and turning to go back into the room. “Do you really think you’ll need it on the way back?”

 

Danny was unimpressed. “Our vampire girlfriend had what I hope to God and back was the granddaddy of all nightmares, you were haunted by her messed up ex, and I own a sword that I’ve had to use on multiple occasions to defend our damn lives. ”

 

“And you were very dashing doing it, darling.” Laura stretched up to kiss Danny’s cheek again. Then she disappeared into the dorm room.

 

* * *

 

 

Carmilla was where Laura left her. She obviously gave up on being upright at some point. Carmilla was sitting on the bed with her legs drawn to her chest, arms folded over her knees. Her head was only visible as a quivering mass of dark hair. Laura approached her slowly, trying not to startle the rattled vampire. She grabbed her yellow pillow and placed it at Carmilla’s feet. Laura’s heart dropped when her girlfriend didn’t react at all, not even to snap at her.

 

Carmilla didn’t look up as Laura flattened herself against the cold floor to search under Carmilla’s bed. She grumbled under her breath when the ornate weapon wasn't there. Carmilla didn’t even seem to be faking breathing anymore when Laura stood back up. She remained unnaturally still as Laura tore through her bed, and didn’t laugh like she usually did when the young woman cried out in frustration.

 

The vampire did react to what must have been Danny placing her hand on the doorknob, turning it until Laura yelled at her to stop. “I can find it! Stay out there!”

 

Carmilla was suddenly at the end of Laura’s bed, holding the yellow pillow out in front of herself protectively. Her arm wavered like the pillow was made of solid gold. Crouched ready to run, she trained her eyes on the doorknob like it was personally going to fly across the room and beat her to death. “What are you looking for?”

 

Carmilla’s voice was hoarse, as if she’d been yelling for hours. Her eyelids drooped the same way they did when Laura kept her tied up for over a week, and she seemed unable to look away from the door. Laura forced the panic back down as it came roaring into her ears, losing it now would only make things worse. Hesitant to invade Carmilla’s personal space, she instead pulled her desk chair closer to the shaking vampire. She heard Danny’s head thump against the door and presumed that her other girlfriend was taking as small nap in protest of how long Laura was taking.

 

“She’ll be asleep out there in about two minutes.” Laura nonchalantly slid her chair closer to Carmilla. She made a point of not looking directly at her, inspecting her perfectly maintained fingernails instead. “I’m looking for her sword.”

 

Carmilla flinched at the mention of the weapon, dropping her left hand from its grip on the pillow to clutch at her side. Laura filed the gesture away in her mind and swapped hands, now carefully critiquing her right hand’s fingernails while not looking at Carmilla.

 

“Why would you give her a weapon?” Carmilla asked, her voice returned back to a somewhat normal tone. The scratching noise coming from her throat also disappeared. Despite her continued distrust and fear of Danny, Laura chose to take this as a good sign, that whatever was wrong with Carmilla was only temporary. “She was about to execute me for crimes I did not commit.”

 

Laura immediately gave up on feigning disinterest. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Laura still found herself getting excited over the prospect of a new mystery to solve. A new puzzle to unlock, and another layer to the seemingly endless story of Carmilla. “I don’t know who you think she is, but the Danny I know would rather die than hurt either of us on purpose.”

 

Carmilla let the pillow fall, seemingly satisfied by Laura’s words that Danny wasn’t a pressing threat to her life. She rubbed her tired face and sat back. Carmilla used the wall for support as all energy left her body, leaving her with limbs so exhausted that she could barely force her legs to stretch out in front of her. Laura smiled in what she hoped was a supportive manner. She was informed on multiple occasions that her face took the word ‘supportive’ and went straight on down to ‘slasher’, so she offered the yellow pillow back to Carmilla and moved to sit next to her on the bed.

 

“She said she was a Guard Captain in the chapel,” Carmilla said, barely audible. Laura offered Carmilla her hand. A cool set of fingers interlaced with hers and gripped tightly, taking any and all strength Laura was willing to provide. “That I’d killed a girl she was supposed to protect.”

 

Laura used her thumb to rub the back of Carmilla’s hand, bringing her free hand over to grasp her arm in further support. “She’s human,” Laura gently reminded her, “and not much of a threat to the big, bad vampire.”

 

Laura bumped her shoulder into Carmilla’s, taking pride in her nearly not there tentative uptick of her lips. “Everything around me was on fire, and I was so scared.”

 

That set off an alarm in Laura’s mind. “I’ve seen you start fires with your thoughts, why would you be scared of them?”

 

“I-” Carmilla stopped suddenly, considering. Her brow crinkled adorably and Laura restrained her urge to kiss her by harshly reminding herself of Carmilla’s screaming not half an hour before. “I was afraid, I don’t know why.”

 

Laura jumped backwards as Carmilla reached behind them both to produce Danny’s sword. It had fallen between the mattress and the wall, safely inside its sheathe with all of the leather bindings in their usual perfect condition. Carmilla stared at it, perplexed. Laura picked up on her expression immediately. “What’s up?”

 

“This is hers?” Carmilla jerked her head towards the door and Danny. Laura nodded slowly. “This isn’t the one she had in the chapel.”

 

Laura carefully prised the sword from her fingers, lowering it to the ground as gently as she was able. It clattered, causing Carmilla to startle briefly. “You know, we were talking about chapels last week, do you remember that?”

 

Carmilla bowed her head for agonising seconds, Laura kept her expression neutral so it couldn’t fall if she didn’t remember. “Danny wouldn’t be caught dead in one?”

 

Laura nearly exploded with joy, diving forwards to tackle her girlfriend back into the bed. Carmilla held a hand up to stop them both crashing into the wall. Laughing quietly at Laura’s usual exuberance, she allowed herself to be cuddled. Carmilla latched on to the memory of Danny’s terrible funeral-based humour, and used it as leverage to prise everything else she knew about the girl. She smiled, content as Laura did her usual octopus impression and details of the not-even-jokingly threatening Danny Lawrence filled her mind. The memories beat back the harsh monstrosities and horrors of what she hoped was a nightmare. Knowing all that she did about the nature of magic and supernatural creatures, having a nightmare featuring someone she trusted betraying her was the absolute best case scenario for Carmilla.

 

Laura lifted her head from Carmilla’s neck and fluidly kissed her, only for a moment. She then removed herself from Carmilla’s grasp, rolled off the bed and scooped up Danny’s sword from the floor. “I will be right back. Be a good vampire and drink your blood.”

 

Laura glared at Carmilla then the discarded half-empty glass of blood and whirled out of the room, taking all of the energy with her and nearly tripping over Danny’s sleeping body. Carmilla did as she was told, ignoring the other two in favour of drinking greedily from first her glass then directly from the carton. The threat, real or not, was gone. She relaxed on the bed, pulling the yellow pillow Laura offered her close into her chest as she drank.

 

“It wasn’t real,” she whispered to herself. “Mother is gone, Danny loves you, there’s nothing to be afraid of here. You are the most powerful creature at Silas, almost without opposition. Act like it.”

 

Carmilla continued to berate herself quietly while Laura roused Danny and gave her assurances that she would call if anything happened. Carmilla latched onto the worry shining clearly through whatever calm and brave voice Danny thought she was doing, taking comfort and security from her concern rather than the Captain’s cold near-monotonous tone of violence.

 

“See? Your big dumb dog of a girlfriend is worried. You are fine. You are not scared of her.” Carmilla held her head in her hands, grunting with frustration. The sense of mortal peril she felt every time she thought of Danny wasn’t going away. It dulled its intensity a little but it still kept her on edge. Ready to defend herself better than she did in her own mind. To fight one of her girlfriends to the death if she was forced or hunted again. Suddenly uncomfortable, she shifted on the bed trying to find a position that felt settled. She failed, overwhelmed by the disconnect between what she rationally knew to be the truth and the victimising reality of her nightmare.

 

Carmilla ended up lying the wrong way on the bed, as close as she could get to truly comfortable. Laura returned, earning Carmilla’s eternal gratitude when she didn’t mention her odd positioning. Carmilla extended her superhuman hearing to its limits, searching for Danny’s heavy footfalls among the silence of the early morning at Silas University. She heard nothing to indicate her girlfriend was in the building. The relief she felt at this discovery twisted viciously in her stomach. She couldn’t face Laura while she wanted to strike out at Danny preemptively, they’d spent almost three years working on their relationship to avoid this kind of drama.

 

Carmilla didn’t want Laura to look at her with disappointment shining in her eyes. Twice was two times more than she could ever need, even for her extended lifetime. During the early months of what Perry called ‘an experiment with double homicide being the only ending’, what kept Danny and Carmilla together was their mutual devotion to Laura and her safety and happiness. They clashed on what that entailed exactly but not inadvertently disappointing her was the first thing on their shared list.

 

“Do you want to go back to sleep?” Laura asked, eager to make some kind of progress. “Or do you want to stay up?”

 

Carmilla resolutely refused to meet Laura’s eyes. The perceived betrayal stung too much for her to do that. Instead she righted her position on the bed, set her head down on Laura’s yellow pillow and opened her arms for Laura to come back into. “Sleep, please.”

 

It was a lie, and Laura probably knew that. Carmilla silently thanked her for putting aside her scepticism. She kept watch over her girlfriend until her breathing slowed and her heart calmed itself into a steady rhythm. Carmilla did not sleep.

 

The Captain ran through her every moment, burning and laying siege to the edges of Carmilla’s sanity.

 

She didn’t think about the hard talking the dawn would bring, Carmilla enjoyed one last night in near-peace.

 


	3. Psychoanalyse The Vampire

The sun rose over Silas as it did most days. Slowly and with more brightness than its sole vampire inhabitant felt was necessary. Carmilla buried her face in Laura’s hair, avoiding the light of dawn with a ferocity equal to Laura and her various chocolate-based products. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly, doing the same to Laura without noticing. Carmilla drew a small measure of security from the fact that Laura was still there, sleeping contentedly in exactly the same way she had for the entire night.

 

The orange hues of a Silas sunrise pierced through Carmilla’s manufactured cloak of darkness, causing the vampire to curse Laura’s relatively thin hair. Her own mess of near-black hair could block out the light from the sun while on Mercury, a weak sunrise wouldn’t have been any trouble at all. The light looked like fire flickering on the wall across from the window. Carmilla opened her eyes just a sliver and she was inundated with visions of her nightmare.

 

She could feel the crushing fear all over again, could see the methodical machinations of the Captain, and she watched as the sunlight dancing on the walls morphed into the brilliant red hair that the Captain and her girlfriend shared. Carmilla stifled the fearful whimper that rose up her throat. Keeping focus on not waking Laura she slowly extracted herself from the slumbering girl. She landed on the floor, with all the grace and coordination of a drunken kitten and glared at the window. It was actively betraying her by allowing any reminder of Danny and the Captain into the room.

 

With insecurity rolling over her in waves, Carmilla retreated to the bathroom, taking her towel with her and whichever full outfit worth of clothing she put her hands on. The bathroom door was thankfully silent as she slipped inside. It clicked shut into the silence of the morning, thankfully failing to wake Laura.

 

The running of the shower however, did drag Laura into the waking world. She slept dreamless and continuously aside from Carmilla’s early morning freak out. Laura flipped quickly between grateful and guilty about this fact, having an uneventful night worth of sleep while Carmilla went through a hyper-realistic nightmare and Danny had to walk home through half a foot of snow at who knew when in the morning after being literally pushed out of bed.

 

Laura considered pretending to be asleep for a fleeting second. Slapping her face lightly to banish that thought, Laura instead carefully stepped out of bed. She considered joining Carmilla in the shower, but thought better of it as steam started to escape underneath the bathroom door. If it was Danny in there, Laura would have worried, a Silas hot shower consisted of nearly boiling water that was keeping the Burn Trauma Wing of the school’s medical centre running perpetually. She settled on preparing herself for her looming final, after a nutritious breakfast of chocolate cereal and cookies of course.

 

She allowed herself to sink into her work, blocking out the ever-present complexities of her life. While she noticed the shower shutting off, she didn’t look up from her computer when Carmilla slowly emerged. Laura spent the half hour it took her to get back to sleep to decide on her plan of attack. First, give Carmilla a chance to bring it up on her own. Failing that, start dropping hints.

 

Laura resolved to think of a Plan C while her first two plans failed.

 

Shocking both of them, Carmilla didn’t try to hide back in Laura’s bed, or her own. She didn’t freak out internally again as the sunlight was a neutral almost-white and the burning orange wasn’t staining the walls. Laura abandoned her work when Carmilla walked with bare feet to their tiny kitchen. She set to work making her morning black coffee and the first of what she knew would be many hot chocolates for Laura.

 

“Carmilla?” Laura wheeled herself closer, giving up as the chair caught on a discarded shirt. She skillfully didn’t fall flat on her face and stumbled closer to her girlfriend. “How was your shower?”

 

Laura winced at her own awkwardness. Carmilla didn’t acknowledge that Laura spoke except for her usual amused smirk. Laura took that as a win and plunged further in her totally-planned cute offensive. She purposefully tried to lean against the sink, allowing her hand to slip of the edge and dramatically bang her hip into it. Loudly moaning her pain, she laid her head on Carmilla’s shoulder. She pouted up at her, scrunching her face together in what she hoped was the expression both of her girlfriends were always referring to as adorable.

 

Carmilla felt more of the crushing weight of the night rush out of her, and rewarded Laura’s obvious efforts with the hot chocolate. She turned her head away from making her coffee to kiss Laura’s forehead, allowing her lips to remain for comforting moments.

 

“We should talk, cupcake,” she whispered, closing her eyes against Laura’s suddenly increased heartbeat. “Psychoanalyse The Vampire with Laura Hollis. Episode seven.”

 

Laura pushed away from her girlfriend and wandered back to her desk chair, taking her mug with her. Carmilla followed, leaning easily up against the desk itself, observing Laura and allowing her to set the pace for whatever conversation they were about to have.

 

“Episode seven: ‘O Captain, my Captain’,” Laura threw out, wincing as Carmilla flinched at the title. “Or maybe-”

 

“’Oh The Nightmares You’ll Have’, I like that book,” interjected Carmilla. Laura had to physically turn away so the vampire wouldn’t see her smile. Knowing her, she’d probably take it the wrong way. “Children’s books have a magical quality to them.”

 

She reached out and spun Laura back to face her. Laura’s face was the picture of innocence. “I do not find that adorable.”

 

“Sure you don’t, sugar.” Carmilla sat on her own bed and gulped greedily at her coffee. The caffeine didn’t do much to her, but with Laura’s pep to deal with every morning, Carmilla was ready to take any advantage she could get. “Any chance we can not talk about this?”

 

Laura ate a cookie and washed it down with liquid gold. “I told Danny to call sometime around lunch, so we have until then before she starts freaking out.”

 

“She’s already freaking out, I can hear her working out from here,” Carmilla retorted, staring into her black coffee.

 

“Liar,” said Laura and stuck out her tongue when Carmilla rolled her eyes. “She’s obviously off hunting bunnies or something.”

 

“Obviously,” Carmilla agreed. She ignored the stab of terror every time she thought of Danny, ashamed of herself for letting it continue. Carmilla considered telling Laura without being prompted to do so, and when she decided to try, the words wouldn’t form. “I think it’s still affecting me.”

 

Carmilla praised herself internally for getting that far, ignoring the fact that she again couldn’t meet Laura’s eyes. She snorted, weren’t her days of living with constant fear over now that Mother wasn’t in the picture?

 

“Do you think you’re going to lash out again?” Laura kept her voice steady and neutral. She searched Carmilla’s face for any indication of discomfort or terror. The vampire’s face was like it was when they met, a mask she couldn’t crack. Which hurt. “Whatever it is, you can tell me, you big stupid vampire.”

 

Carmilla pulled her nerve together, forcing herself to look at Laura’s beaming face. She tried to hate how easily Laura was breaking through her halfhearted walls, failed as per usual, but she still tried. “I don’t know, this is new for me too.”

 

“Are you-,” her voice hitched, “are you, do you still-,” Laura stopped, unsure of what exactly she wanted to know. She changed tracks. “How do you feel after a night of brooding?”

 

Carmilla whacked her with one of their copious pillows. “I do not ‘brood’!”

 

“Yes you do! Ask anyone!” Laura threw a pen at Carmilla’s head. “Except Perry, she might start comparing you to Jane Austen men.” Laura added quickly. “Again.”

 

“She-! Never mind. Not important,” Carmilla shook her head violently to get the image of herself as Mr Darcy out of her head. “I think I’m mostly okay,” she admitted, almost truthfully. Laura clearly wasn’t buying it.

 

“But?”

 

“But I think I need some time away from Danny,” Carmilla said slowly, trying to soften the blow as best she could. “And no, I don’t know how long.”

 

Laura felt herself deflate. “Oh.”

 

Carmilla drained her mug in two massive gulps, placed it carefully on the ground, and fell backwards into her bed. She couldn’t bare Laura’s reaction. Equal measures of guilt and timid apprehension roiled inside of her, accompanied by the looming Captain at the edges of her thoughts.

 

“It’s not going away,” Carmilla started, followed by a muffled unintelligible scream when she pushed a pillow into her own face.

 

“What’s not going away?” Laura clearly heard seven different curses as Carmilla screamed into the pillow with more direction in her frustration. “Dear, that isn’t helping.”

 

At the pet name, Carmilla threw the pillow gently at Laura’s head, narrowly missing her still half-full mug as it connected. “No, just no.”

 

“Still not helping!” Carmilla gave up on keeping her cool or playing nice.

 

“Every time I close my eyes, she’s standing over me,” Carmilla began, “she’s about to kill me. For a crime I probably am guilty of, if not now then back then.”

 

Carmilla sat back up, toying with her fingernails and biting her lip. Laura finished her still-hot chocolate and moved to sit on the bed with her girlfriend. Ready to offer whatever support she needed. She kept quiet, hoping to prompt Carmilla into explaining further.

 

“Rationally, I know it isn’t her. Danny struggles with killing rabbits while out on hunts, a vampire is a tad out of her league,” Carmilla stopped. She reached out and laced her fingers together with Laura’s. “Her hunting league anyway, because-”

 

“The big mean old vampire is in love with not one, but two silly little humans?”

 

Carmilla rolled her eyes. “Yes, that,” she grounded out through her clenched teeth. “What I meant was that the Captain wasn’t Danny aside from her face and the super-tall genes.” Carmilla traced Laura’s fingers with her free hand before continuing, “and she had the advantage of knowing the whole ‘silver beats vampire’ thing on top of it being a dream!”

 

Laura’s face scrunched in confusion, “what does it being a dream have to do with it?”

 

“I was terrified,” Carmilla stated bluntly. “I couldn’t move or defend myself, I was powerless.”

 

Laura’s half of a semester worth of psychology classes presented themselves, suggesting all kinds of fun things like Post-Traumatic Stress and negative associations taking root in a troubled mind. She knocked them down as ill-informed, she did drop the class because she found herself putting on Psychoanalyse The Vampire, episodes one through six for just her and her two girlfriends to see. Danny, though amused, was the one to put her foot down against posting the videos up for Laura’s many, many viewers to tear apart.

 

“Now thinking about,” Laura cast around her brain for the right phrasing, “the Captain and/or Danny makes you feel weak and afraid?” Laura guessed, with absolutely no conviction behind her theory.

 

Carmilla scoffed, “like a monster that deserves to be killed.”

 

Laura sucked her top lip between her teeth, releasing it slowly and doing her best not to snicker at her clearly troubled girlfriend. Carmilla rolled her eyes again, poking Laura’s cheek to get her to voice her clearly hilarious notion. “Danny ‘brought you two dozen hand-picked blood-red roses for your maybe-birthday’ Lawrence? Apologised for causing you three hours of broken rib pain by dragging you to that steak place that will sell unhealthily undercooked meat to anyone with ‘fake fangs’ Danny Lawrence? That one?”

 

Carmilla poked her a slight bit firmer, yet without malice. “I’m not claiming rationality here!”

 

“Sorry,” muttered Laura sheepishly. “Danny also tried to teach us how to cook,” she rushed before slapping a hand over her mouth.

 

“Your point being that Jolly Red’s a bigger threat to herself than she is to me?”

 

“No, but let’s go with that.” Laura pulled her legs up onto the bed and dragged Carmilla to lay down with her. “So, you’re going with pretending you aren’t afraid? That you didn’t scream at Danny at like three in the morning to get the hell away from you?”

 

Carmilla groaned. A lack-luster regret presented itself, wishing that she hadn’t let this tiny, overly-energetic young woman get to know her so damn well. “I’m not pretending or denying anything. I am going with I need some time to recover from it though,” she stated plainly, leaving no room for argument.

 

“You’re going to sleep now, aren’t you?” Carmilla didn’t respond, choosing to throw half of her body on top of Laura, effectively trapping her. “Carmilla!”

 

“My subconscious has declared war on me, and I can’t have Danny here because of it!” Carmilla whisper-yelled into Laura’s neck. “You’re pulling a double shift as payment for this horrible catastrophe!”

 

Laura struggled with little effort, putting in a token defence. It was a Saturday and aside from informing Danny on her progress with Carmilla, Laura didn’t have anything to do until her weekly Silas University Library Assault Planning session and dinner with Perry. “You haven’t noticed. How have you not noticed?”

 

“What?” Carmilla grumbled, pulling Laura closer. Laura picked at the hem of whichever random shirt Carmilla grabbed before her shower. Carmilla nudged at her neck with her nose. “What, cupcake?”

 

“If this,” she fisted her hand in the rough fabric of Carmilla’s shirt, “isn’t mine, and it clearly isn’t yours.” She pushed gently at Carmilla’s arm to get her to move. It took her a second but she located one of their not-yellow pillows and dived onto it. Carmilla laughed but stopped when Laura turned on her again. “Strip.”

 

Carmilla immediately moved to comply. Starting with the sweats she’d put on, probably without registering that they were sweats, Laura’s, and far too short for her legs.

 

“No, just give me the shirt!” Laura interjected, internally double—taking at her own words.

 

“I am officially calling time on the honeymoon phase of our relationship,” Carmilla whined, but removed her shirt and chucked it at Laura anyway. Laura, with grunting and contortions, forced the shirt over the pillow as its case and turned it over, inspecting her work and making adjustments.

 

“Three years is probably some kind of record,” Laura mumbled. She successfully got the shirt to do what she wanted it to and lobbed the pillow at Carmilla. The vampire fell back onto the bed to catch it. “Hug that, problem solved.”

 

Laura resumed her work while Carmilla experimentally sniffed at her makeshift body pillow. Underneath her own scent there was the familiar notes of a wood fire burning and a shock of spices that blended together to make Danny. Carmilla unceremoniously buried her face in the pillow while she rolled away from Laura to actually get some sleep.

 

Laura let her sleep for however long studying for her journalism final took. According to her phone, this was about five hours. Which Laura silently pumped her fists in celebration of a new record for continuous studying, and nearly fell out of her chair when her phone started blaring the theme from ‘Xena’ at her.

 

She hastily covered it, answering quickly and checking over her shoulder that Carmilla remained unconscious. Carmilla had contorted herself so that she curled fully around the pillow while still somehow maintaining an impression that she could step away from it at any time.

 

“She’s fine, I’m fine, please tell me you’re fine,” Laura whispered, taking one last look at Carmilla before she quietly left the room.

 

Danny sighed with relief. “I’m fine. Perry and I have a plan.”

 

Laura had started to walk further away from her dorm, but Danny’s words caused her to stop dead. She leaned against the wall and then slowly slid down until she was sitting on the floor. “A plan for what?”

 

“Carmilla has obviously been affected by whatever her nightmare was about, like deeply,” Danny paused to say something Laura couldn’t hear, “and we know it’s negatively related to me.”

 

“That’s obvious?” Laura smacked her own forehead. “How is that obv- Never mind, what plan?”

 

“A totally awesome plan to help Carmilla trust me again,” Danny said, like that explained everything. Laura wasn’t convinced, knowing from experience that any plan that originated from Danny and Perry was bound to go wrong in a well-meaning manner. “We think the nightmare is her subconscious rebelling against the idea of being with me. Therefore, we tell it that it’s stupid and I am fantastic.”

 

“Carmilla is currently asleep with a pillow wrapped in one of your shirts, I think she knows you’re fantastic,” Laura explained, pride wounded slightly that the eternally worried Danny and Perry figured out what was wrong with Carmilla without her advantage of a Carmilla to question. At least she wasn’t treating her girlfriends as people to be interviewed for projects anymore. That resulted in more arguing than Laura was willing to remember. “But I’m listening.”

 

“I’m crashing your Library Assault Planning thing with Perry. We should be ready to go in a week, depending on Kirsch.” Danny exuded excitement that proved contagious as Laura’s heart sped up in anticipation of a plan she didn’t know anything about aside from that it apparently involved, of all people:

 

“Kirsch?”

 

“He has something I’m going to be needing if you think Carmilla will be open to trying the plan.”

 

“Do I want to know?”

 

“Yes!” Came a muffled shout from Perry in the background, effectively ending all of Laura’s further points of conflict.

 

“Fine, but you’re buying dinner,” Laura conceded, knowing that Danny would ignore her and make something even better than take-out for the three of them.

 

Details were exchanged and Laura hurried back to the dorm room to leave a note for Carmilla.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here ends part one. Tune in soon for part two: Danny and Perry's plan.


	4. Vampire-Witch

One Week Later.

 

Carmilla knew she was dreaming. She knew that there wasn’t a chapel, that there wasn’t any fire, and Danny wouldn’t try to kill her, let alone be so successful at it. Knowing all of this didn’t reduce her fear, it didn’t make her feel any less terrible about whichever crime the Captain accused her of this time. Carmilla was so aware of what was happening to her that she knew the faint humming droning on around her was Laura quietly talking to her to rouse her from sleep carefully.

 

Fear lanced at her heart anyway. No matter what she tried, it lingered.

 

She concentrated on the humming, allowing herself to be pulled out of the nightmare without losing her cool again. Thankfully that only happened the one time.

 

Carmilla opened her eyes and was met with Laura’s neck, jugular pulsating with barely concealed worry. She was reading from a collection of articles she was studying for fun after her finals. Carmilla closed her eyes again, listening to her girlfriend read the latest news. This was their routine over the last week, Carmilla lethargic and depressed as her sleep was assaulted every time she allowed herself to drift off, and Laura doing her best to make her girlfriend comfortable since their collective investigations into the odd nightmares consistently turned up nothing useful.

 

“So, something is going to happen today that I’m not entirely sure you’re going to react well to,” Laura whispered, abandoning her articles. “Danny has a ridiculous plan, I’m sure I don’t need to elaborate on that.”

 

Carmilla smiled affectionately, despite the punch of terror and unworthiness that slammed into her stomach at the mention of her other girlfriend. She shifted closer to Laura’s warm body, trying to play it off as restless sleep movement.

 

“Please don’t kill anyone,” Laura continued, “that’s all I ask. Zero homicides today would be great.”

 

Carmilla, though her apprehension surrounding seeing Danny again for the first time in a week was powerful, found herself intrigued. A Danny Lawrence plan never failed to go horribly wrong, usually resulting in everything being on fire and/or flooded.

 

“I want to apologise for what I have to say, Danny’s getting all jealous and I think this is going to be her way of being passive-aggressive about it.” Laura spoke in the same pleasant monotone she put on whenever either Carmilla or Danny needed comforting. Carmilla didn’t know where she got the idea from for the longest time, right up until she met Laura’s father and everything made sense.

 

Carmilla made a show of stirring into consciousness. Laura squeaked in surprise. Carmilla silenced her with a quick kiss. She then raced into the bathroom to get herself ready for whatever plan her girlfriends concocted for the day.

 

“How much of that did you hear?” Laura yelled at the closed door. The door didn’t answer and Carmilla pretended that she couldn’t hear her. “Carmilla!”

 

When she was ignored again, Laura busied herself with last minute preparations for the long day ahead. Winter break began the day before and rather depressingly, none of them felt inclined to go back home for it. Carmilla didn’t exactly have a home to go to, Laura’s father wouldn’t allow either of her girlfriends into his house after the incident, and Danny put off going home to go through with her plan. LaFontaine and Perry were living off-campus but weren’t going home due to certain differences of opinions between their families.

 

Insofar as Laura could tell, that boiled down to ‘which birds are okay to eat?’.

 

She sent a brief message to Danny, informing her that the vampire was awake and probably wouldn’t react violently. Danny responded with a selfie, war-paint half-drawn on and a pair of goggles hanging around her neck. She then pulled out the outfit she was given to wear and quickly got changed even before she heard the shower turn off, signalling Carmilla’s imminent arrival back into the dorm room proper. Laura left her boots unlaced and fetched the note she was instructed to leave, dropping it on top of her abandoned bed where Carmilla was sure to see it.

 

Carmilla exited the bathroom, only to be greeted with an empty room and the faint scent of Laura. If she strained, she could just make out her footsteps jogging down the stairs at the end of their floor. She zeroed in on the note in moments, abandoning her efforts to dry her hair to dive on the slip of paper. Weirdly, it wasn’t in either of her girlfriends’ handwriting, instead Carmilla had to search deep in her memories to conclude the old-fashioned script belonged to Kirsch. Carmilla took a moment to admire the beautiful writing before actually reading what it said.

 

‘To the Countess Karnstein,

 

The Honourable Marquis de Hollis decrees that, as a vampire, you are her property to do with as she likes. Be ready for collection promptly.

 

Signed,

 

Court Scribe B. Kirsch.’

 

Carmilla sat on the bed. She dropped the note on the floor and glared at the door when she noticed a pair of footsteps approaching at a painstakingly slow pace. Carmilla barely left the room over the last week and Laura thought she was going to come and kidnap her? She cracked her knuckles and stretched her stiff limbs. Ready for a fight with at least two of her silly little humans, Carmilla kept Laura’s request for no homicides at the top of her mind.

 

The request flew away as the pungent aroma of male body spray over-applied invaded Carmilla’s nose. Being called property was one thing, Laura was roughly as threatening as a wet piece of paper, but to have her room invaded, again, by frat boys? Carmilla could have strangled Laura for allowing this to happen then she would move on to Danny for deciding that this would be a good idea.

 

The footsteps drew closer, now Carmilla could clearly differentiate between the massive frat boy feet and a more petite and feminine gait. If Carmilla were a gambling woman (anymore), she would bet the farm on Laura and Danny thinking Kirsch and Perry were at all threatening. They were not.

 

Like, at all.

 

When Perry stopped suddenly at the dorm room door, Kirsch bashed into her, sending them both sprawling on the floor. Carmilla stopped herself from cackling at them, a voice in the back of her mind that sounded suspiciously like Laura and Danny speaking together loudly informed her that they were trying to help her, so appreciate it dummy.

 

While they squabbled childishly outside on the floor, Carmilla took advantage of her extra time to find some sturdy shoes. This effort cost her almost a full minute and the bottom of the closet was officially a semi-sentient mass of basketball shoes, combat boots, and a truly insane amount of reasonable flats. Finding shoes that were hers was a challenge, finding them in a matching pair might as well have being untying the Gordian Knot.

 

The attack team righted itself eventually. Carmilla heard the resettling of something metallic and jumped when one of them bashed something metal against the door.

 

“Uh,” Kirsch started while unfolding a piece of paper. “By order of the Marquis, you are to be delivered to the Grand Hall for execution.”

 

Carmilla gave him credit for keeping his voice absolutely serious throughout his declaration. She could imagine Perry broadly grinning at him with pride and encouragement. Still, she wasn’t going without a fight. She shouted back, “and if I refuse?”

 

Kirsch fumbled with his script and whatever else he was carrying. Luckily for him, Perry stepped in.

 

“If you refuse for any reason other than serious, overwhelmed ones, then the Marquis will be withholding for the foreseeable future,” Perry answered with her usual authority. Even Carmilla found herself bowing to it on occasion. “Also the- I can’t say this, Kirsch?”

 

Carmilla did laugh quietly at that. A piece off paper crinkled audibly as Perry shoved it towards her partner. He took a moment to read it, snorting as he did so. “The safeword is the usual one. Nice, vampire hottie!” Perry smacked him, hard. “Sorry.”

 

“Respect, Brody,” she hissed before banging on the door. “Surrender or we will use force!”

 

Carmilla considered surrendering, for curiosity’s sake alone. The urge to find out what kind of weapons Danny and Laura thought were appropriate for Kirsch and Perry to arrest, or possibly kidnap, her with. She gave Danny some points for sending the two least threatening members of their circle of friends to fetch her. Carmilla pushed down the twisting unease at the thought of Danny, choosing to answer Perry instead.

 

“Please, use force,” she goaded, not yelling. They could hear her fine, her and her girlfriends found out how not-soundproof the dorm rooms were at Silas the hard way.

 

Perry put her hand on the doorknob and turned it, while Kirsch seemed to be rummaging around in a bag for something. The door creaked open slowly, followed by the sound of something glass rolling inside the room along the wooden flooring. There was a blinding flash trailed immediately by white smoke slowly obfuscating the doorway from Carmilla’s view. She might have underestimated how much they’d thought about this. Her ears picked up on Kirsch standing from his crouched position. Almost able to see him through the smoke, she was too focused on catching sight of the two of them to hear him raise his weapon.

 

Something whipped into her still-wet hair, and Carmilla yelped in shock at the cold wet splashing on her cheek. She raised a hand to investigate whatever had hit her. She clawed at her hair, coming away with fingers stained with blue paint. Carmilla caught herself before she face-palmed the blue paint onto more of herself.

 

“Really?” Disbelief and annoyance came out together and she resisted the urge to strangle everyone involved. Kirsch kept his weapon raised while Perry patted him on the back.

 

“Surrender,” she repeated, “or the next one’s going on your clothes,” Perry threatened again. Carmilla started to take this seriously.

 

“We tested it,” Kirsch added, pride evident in his voice, “this stuff will not wash out.”

 

Carmilla was going to commit quintuple homicide. If the frat boy ruined her shirt, she would not be held accountable for her actions. She was even wearing all her own clothes for once!

 

“Fine!” Carmilla exclaimed suddenly, causing both of her attackers to reflexively jump backwards. “I will come quietly.”

 

Perry mumbled under her breath something that sounded like, “that’ll be a first,” but Carmilla graciously ignored that. She took comfort in her own inability to blush, it helped save face more than one would suspect.

 

The smoke vented out of the room just in time for Carmilla to see Kirsch and Perry high-five each other with matching goofy grins. Carmilla put on her best unimpressed face and held her hands out to receive the plastic handcuffs Perry brandished at her. “Seriously?”

 

“Would you like metal ones?” Perry shot back. “I’m sure there are some in this room somewhere.” Kirsch wisely remained silent and focused intensely on checking his paintball gun over in minute detail.

 

Carmilla smirked as the handcuffs clicked into place around her wrists. “We keep those at Danny’s.”

 

Perry responded by dragging her out of the dorm room by the links between the handcuffs. Kirsch dashed into the room to pick up their smoke bomb, and rushed ahead of them after he slammed the door. He lifted his phone that he was holding the wrong way up to his lips. “Target captured, returning to base. Over.”

 

“Do you guys have call-signs too?” Carmilla questioned, an extra joyous kick to her steps. Thus far, despite the real threat to her clothing, Danny was at least cheering her up a little.

 

“No!” Perry snapped while Kirsch again stayed silent. He suddenly got very interested in the ornate paintings hanging on the ceiling. Perry rolled her eyes and visibly gave up on her serious act. “What did you pick?”

 

Kirsch brightened to nearly fluorescent levels. “SOHCAHTOA,” he answered, walking backwards for a few steps. Perry snickered at his earnest expression while Carmilla smiled indulgently.

 

Carmilla, having spent more of her life at Silas than everyone else combined, knew exactly where they were leading her. The ‘Grand Hall’ was in reality the abandoned student storm shelter. It only went out of use when the Alchemy Club ‘fixed’ the weather over fifty years ago, and lay largely unused by a student population that convinced itself that it was haunted. It was, but only during leap years in February. Carmilla shared this secret with her girlfriends early on in their relationship and had used the hall more than once to indulge her romantic side with them.

 

Now Laura was apparently going to execute her there, not what she had in mind for the place, but she was willing to compromise.

 

“When you say ‘execute’, what exactly will that entail?” Carmilla asked her captors. Neither of them responded, they stared ahead like they were actual soldiers and they had actually captured her by force rather than cruel threats. “No?”

 

“You’ll see,” Kirsch promised, taking the final turn towards the abandoned shelter. “Nearly there.”

 

Carmilla didn’t push for more information. She occupied her thoughts with preparing to see Danny after spending a week isolated from her and all of the pain she currently inspired in Carmilla’s heart. Carmilla allowed Kirsch to lead her mindlessly. She focused on her happy memories with Danny. Their first date without Laura there to act as a buffer. Their night-long foray into the Silas Library. The first time Danny brought her to the Summer Society Hunting Lodge, and the rest of the girls were busy with an overnight hiking trip. Carmilla smirked at that last one as it put an extra swing in her hips.

 

They approached the plain metal doors of the vault-like hall, Carmilla noting with surprise and disappointment that they were wide open so just anyone could enter. The doors all along the hallway leading up to the hall were also flung wide open, giving her an excellent view of the rolling hills surrounding Silas itself. Thankfully her eyes weren’t pummelled with the brightness of the sun, the clouds overhead dulling the sunlight significantly.

 

She could almost sense Laura’s quietly compelling presence in the room as they entered. Carmilla caught sight of her next to what she could only conclude was a stake at which she was to be executed by burning. Many of Kirsch’s frat brothers milled about inside the ‘Grand Hall’, adjusting their own paintball guns and eyeing her arrival with barely concealed nervousness.

 

“You guys know the difference between vampires and witches, right?” Carmilla whispered to her two escorts. Laura either didn’t notice them or was deliberately ignoring them. Both options annoyed Carmilla and her ego.

 

“It has been our experience that most creatures burn eventually,” Kirsch stated plainly before veering off towards a parked dirt bike sitting against the wall to Carmilla’s right. She did not want to know what they thought they were going to use that for. Drawing and quartering if the burning didn’t work?

 

Laura, Carmilla stopped herself to correct her terminology to be in line with the show everyone was putting on for her benefit. The Marquis looked up from the papers she was studying next to the stake, tossing them onto the pile of kindling and firewood placed strategically around it. She finally acknowledged that Carmilla was a person who existed.

 

“Countess!” Laura greeted warmly. Already Carmilla had several notes for Danny, all of them to do with casting. Try as she might, and including the surprising self-defence skills, Laura couldn’t quite pull off threatening. This is who Danny cast as the villain in her live action interactive therapy? Carmilla contained her own amused disbelief as Laura beckoned her and Perry over to the stake.

 

Laura waved Perry off while Carmilla reminded herself again that she should probably start calling her the Marquis de Hollis as requested. Carmilla curtsied sarcastically as the Marquis approached.

 

“Aw, cute, do it again,” Laura cooed. Over her right shoulder Carmilla heard Perry smack her own head.

 

“Laura!” The terrifying and fearsome Marquis startled at Perry’s yelling and forced a comically serious expression onto her face. She glared hard at Carmilla, like the vampire had personally killed her pet fish. “That’s better.”

 

Perry then wandered off to stand outside the vault-like doors, seemingly keeping watch as far as Carmilla could tell.

 

“Right, yes! Evil vampire from the pit of hell, welcome,” Laura said, spreading her arms in a wide gesture including the entire hall. She looked at her hands for a moment, confused, and suddenly moved to rescue her papers from the pile. She shuffled through them, bouncing happily when she found the one she was looking for. “You have been charged with a variety of crimes, including but not limited to: behaving in a feline manner, baring an obscene amount of skin on occasion, biting the Marquis,” Laura looked up to glare, “four counts of the biting.”

 

“Five,” Carmilla interjected, eyebrows pulled together in thought. “I distinctly remember five counts of the biting.”

 

Carmilla grinned like a hunter sighting its prey, Laura ignored her and continued.

 

“Seventeen counts of cookie theft, and numerous charges of clothing theft with intent to keep.”

 

“And all of that make me your,” Carmilla tapered off to allow Laura a chance to be evil some more. Maybe some practice would help her.

 

“Property, under the law,” Laura finished, holding the papers up as justification. “On the pyre please, foul monster.”

 

Carmilla considered fighting her, she wasn’t that attached to her outfit and they did only have paintball guns and a motorbike. It would be a walk in the park to get away from the Marquis and what she would probably define as her army. She wavered, catching the amused glint in Laura’s eyes and Kirsch putting on all of the protective gear to actually ride his dirt bike, and decided.

 

“If I must, oh great and powerful Marquis de Hollis,” capitulated Carmilla, feigning extreme fear. Laura’s serious facade fell twice as Carmilla flounced up the makeshift stairs to stand next to the wooden pole that had a metal ring affixed to the top of it. Ropes that Carmilla knew she could easily snap to pieces dangled down, tied into loose nooses. Laura was having a brief crisis of arousal which she beat down with well-practised ease.

 

“I pick the title ‘Marquis’ and you go for a ‘Wizard of Oz’ joke?” Laura asked incredulously.

 

“We will get to the sadism-based comedy later, cupcake,” retorted Carmilla, winking at the spluttering Laura. Perry and the many young men in the Grand Hall pretended that they couldn’t hear a word of their conversation. Methods to preserve one’s sanity were well-know at Silas. Carmilla took the hint and slipped her hands into the loopholes. They tightened when she tugged on them, but she could tell they would give way if she put her superhuman strength behind her efforts.

 

“Friends!” Laura shouted, catching the attention of her supposed army.

 

“Romans,” Carmilla replied underneath her breath. Only Laura heard her and stopped whatever she was about to say to glare at the vampire over her shoulder. Carmilla smiled back, innocently.

 

“Today, we burn a vampire!” Carmilla was shocked by how loud Laura was making her voice. “Who may or may not also be a witch!”

 

There was a sparse cheer, some clapping. Laura wasn’t discouraged by this however. Carmilla reigned in her sizable urge to comment.

 

One of the assorted frat boys threw a tomb raiding, pyramid diving torch. She pulled a lighter out of her back pocket.

 

Carmilla watched with keen interest as Laura lit the torch and dropped it on the pyre below her.


	5. Rescue

Heat never bothered Carmilla before, and it didn’t bother her now that she was in theory trapped atop a blazing fire. None of the firewood was placed directly under her feet so the main concern for her was the climbing flames all around her. As far as she could tell, with her centuries of experience, fire wouldn’t actually kill her, probably.

Laura stared at her through the smoke and the burning brightness. Worry etched its way onto every contour of her face. Carmilla knew her girlfriend was second-guessing every part of the plan. If she was allowed to continue, Danny would end up with a tiny ball of rage trying to murder her for putting Carmilla into harms way. Again.

With the crackling of the copious fuel surrounding her, Carmilla could barely hear anything else, even with her enhanced hearing. Though she could see Laura, everyone else in the room was too far away to even identify one person as opposed to another. She stopped breathing when the smoke got into her lungs and started scorching the inside of her throat. Despite long term injuries not being an especially large problem, Carmilla wasn’t interested in feeling more pain than she absolutely had to.

Perry moved back from her position at the door. Carmilla presumed it was Perry and was instantly curious, focusing all of her attention on the bright light of mid-morning streaming in the otherwise dark Grand Hall. It was significantly easier to pick out details closer to the door as the sunlight created a silhouette of anyone standing in front of it. Over the roaring of the now fully alight fire, she could have sworn she heard the engine of a motorbike.

Carmilla immediately shifted her attention to where she’d last seen Kirsch with his dirt bike. She spotted his outline, sitting on the bike in what she hoped was full protective gear, helmet included. She twisted around on her pedestal, taking in more of her surroundings as she did so.

She noticed that the ring of fire she originally thought to be continuous actually had a rather large gap directly behind her. No one was standing there and the engine noises were getting closer. That ruled out Kirsch as the source.

In a flash, the light from the sun disappeared as a figure flew into the Grand Hall, engine running and bright red streaking behind it.

Causing herself great internal grief, Carmilla’s first thought when faced with this information was that Danny Lawrence was getting one hell of a talking to for not wearing a damn helmet while riding what Perry called ‘death machines’. Carmilla shook herself free of this notion, nearly welcoming the dread associated with seeing Danny through a wall of fire.

Danny rode directly towards Laura and her army, scattering most of the frat boys easily. Some of them made a show of diving out of the way while others seemed genuinely afraid for their lives. Carmilla wasn’t the only one with Danny plus fire demons lurking in her memories. With all of the boys out of the way, she came to a complete stop in front of Laura.

Carmilla nearly cackled again when she noticed that Danny’s dirt bike was spray painted all white and Laura was wearing a long black overcoat.

Danny spun her back wheel and took off again, apparently done with staring Laura down while Carmilla ‘burned’. The dirt bike took off in a wide circle directly towards the gap in the flames behind Carmilla. She figured that was her cue to stop playing at the completely helpless damsel.

Carmilla yanked on her bindings, pulling the metal ring she was attached to cleanly away from the stake. She loosened the ropes around her wrists and threw them into the fire as Danny stopped again. The vampire jumped gracefully from her perch and started off towards her girlfriend. Danny held out her hand for Carmilla to take and guided her onto the bike. Carmilla settled herself, securing one arm around Danny’s waist and slowly trailing the other up her arm as she again spun her back wheel while taking off.

Behind them, the scattered frat boys set to work putting out the pile of burning wood, calmly lead by Laura as she gestured off towards Kirsch. Carmilla heard a second engine echoing around the Grand Hall as Danny steered towards the only door in or out. Kirsch, actually dressed to go charging around on the back of a death machine, started moving with a more practised ease than Danny had thus far managed.

“Do you know how to drive this thing?” Carmilla shouted over the blaring engines. They flew passed Perry who was holding the vault door open. The brightness of outside was welcomed after the dull light of the fires. Carmilla held on tighter to Danny as they cut a sharp right and skidded slightly as the wheels left the stone paved hallway, landing on the surgically maintained grass. She started planning what she could do to minimise the damage when they inevitable crashed, hoping to keep Danny away from the Medical Centre for as long as possible.

Rather than responding to her question, Danny laughed, free and wild.

Carmilla peeked over her shoulder as they raced across the wide open fields surrounding Silas, catching sight of Kirsch pursing them. The chill in the air didn’t bother her, but she could feel Danny shivering underneath her grip. Restraining the urge to yell at her girlfriend, Carmilla set her mind to figuring out where they were going.

The woods that encircled Silas University came into view as they overcame the highest hill on campus. Carmilla glanced behind them again, noting with alarm that Kirsch was gaining on them. She squeezed Danny’s waist to get her attention. Carmilla immediately regretting this when the bike nearly lost control almost instantly when Danny took her concentration off it for a moment.

“You don’t, do you!” Carmilla accused when Danny got the clearly unruly beast beneath them back under her control. “If you die, I’m telling Laura!”

Danny swerved sharply, Kirsch drew level with them on their new heading. He kept one hand on the handlebars while raising his gun with the other. Danny braked hard and Kirsch missed them both. She then took off just as he started to slow down. While he turned to the right to get a better angle at them, Danny shot off to the left, heading towards what Carmilla presumed to be the Summer Society Hunting Lodge.

Kirsch was left in the middle of a field while Danny and Carmilla made the tree line easily. Danny made a show of weaving through the trees with precision, mocking Carmilla’s worry and continuing with her carefree laughter. Carmilla had never been through the woods this way, with trees rushing passed, sunlight barely flickering through the treetops. She let go of Danny, threw her head back and joined her girlfriend in enjoying the moment.

Her arms spread wide and her legs clinging to the roaring engine beneath her, Carmilla breathed in the air rushing passed them at an incredible pace.

A patch of clear ground appeared in the distance. Carmilla recognised it as the clearing where the Summer Society performed all of their ridiculous rituals that she’d witnessed develop from necessities to drunken dares over the decades. Danny brought the bike into the clearing and stopped smoothly. Carmilla mostly wanted to kill her, first the lack of motorcycle-specific clothing, and secondly for letting her believe she was two seconds from crashing the entire ride.

Danny shut off the engine. Carmilla leaped off the back of the bike like it was about to murder her. Memories of her recurring nightmare played slowly and on a loop, proximity to Danny only exacerbating the ordeal. She brushed at the ash still clinging to her clothes, ignoring her girlfriend for just a few more seconds. Ever aware of her surroundings, Carmilla couldn’t help but notice how wildly Danny’s heart was beating, her breathing slow in an attempt to calm down. Carmilla continued her campaign to ignore Danny for as long as possible, failing horribly.

Carmilla backed away from Danny quietly. The distance soothed her shouting nerves.

“We’re going to leave this here for one of the freshmen to take back,” Danny said while she got off the bike. Carmilla gave herself one quick peek at her girlfriend to test the severity of her issues. Which is when the day of weird got weirder.

Danny’s usual high-waisted jeans and battle-ready shirts were gone. Instead she wore plain low-slung tight black jeans, with two overly-chunky belts criss-crossing her hips. Carmilla was momentarily distracted by the unbuttoned nature of Danny’s white long-sleeve henley, her neck so exposed that she could practically see the blood pounding forcefully underneath her skin. Danny cruelly robbed Carmilla of her admiring when she turned to unhook her sword from a clearly custom installed rack on the side of the white dirt bike. She secured it to one of her belts and finally gave her full attention to Carmilla.

“Countess,” Danny started, bowing, “are you unharmed?”

Carmilla stood torn between the underlying desire to run away in fear and wanting to climb her stupidly serious girlfriend like a tree. She settled with staying perfectly still. She forced her head to nod, hoping that Danny would take that as enough of an answer. Danny grinned, placing a hand instinctively on the hilt of her sword. Carmilla found herself almost smiling back.

“A successful mission, then,” Danny cheered, turning to start the short hike to the Summer Society Hunting Lodge. She walked slowly, resolutely keeping her eyes staring straight forward. Carmilla watched her go until she got to the edge of the clearing where the only clearly defined track in or out lay almost hidden underneath the numerous flowers that ringed the area. Danny stopped, turning again to face Carmilla. “We’ll keep you safe from the Marquis and her,” Danny scoffed, “boys.”

Danny stood to one side of the trail, staring at Carmilla expectantly. Carmilla found her voice. “’Safe’? I was unaware of any danger.”

Danny’s jaw dropped for the barest hint of a moment, snapping shut so hard that Carmilla’s started to worry about her girlfriend’s teeth being damaged. She recovered quickly. “We,” Danny swallowed to give herself more thinking time, “figured the fires wouldn’t be as effective as the Marquis hoped.” Carmilla smirked at her little victory. “However, all of her weapons are plated silver and I don’t doubt she would not hesitate to use them.”

Carmilla raised her hands in a ‘lead on’ gesture. Danny set off with a slight skip in her step. Carmilla followed at a more stilted pace. They travelled in silence, only the cracking of twigs underneath their feet breaking the abnormal peace in the woods. Danny kept herself in full view in front of Carmilla. The vampire appreciated the gesture, even as she felt her breathing hitch with fear every few steps.

They were in the middle of nowhere, heading towards a pseudo-sorority that Mother was constantly denouncing as a pit of idiocy and loose morality, in broad daylight. Carmilla felt like her chest was going to cave in under the weight of her guilt. Danny, aside from the sword, presented herself as close to non-threatening as a woman over six feet tall could be. The fear remained, dull but there.

The three-storey Hunting Lodge came into Carmilla’s view, as did the usual mix of at least ten different types of body spray, perfume, or deodorants. She coughed when the full complexities got in her nose and polluted her lungs. Carmilla heard Danny’s amused giggle, though her girlfriend no doubt thought she was subtle about it.

“One day,” Carmilla said, speeding up her gait to match Danny’s, “and one day soon, someone is going to take up smoking and this place is going up in flames.”

“Scarlett smokes,” Danny replied, waving to one of the other girls who appeared to be scaling the building for whatever insane reason Carmilla did not want to know about. The name was familiar, though Carmilla couldn’t quite remember why.

“Is Scarlett the one with the ironic last name or the time-traveller?” Carmilla found immediately that curiosity was doing an excellent job of beating back her mounting apprehension.

“She is not a time-traveller!” Danny asserted with frustration evident in her voice.

“No one not from the 1920’s likes jazz that much,” Carmilla argued. “I wasn’t personally there but Mother liked to reminisce.”

“Jazz is a perfectly acceptable genre of music for a modern young woman to enjoy,” Danny bit back, cringing at her own word choice. Carmilla’s predatory grin was automatic.

“Please, dear whatever-title-you’ve-picked, I would love to know which musical genres aren’t acceptable,” she teased, beaming internally at Danny’s reddening ears.

“Bluegrass, obviously,” answered Danny quickly. She waved off another girl Carmilla didn’t recognise who came rushing out of the front doors with an over-sized first-aid kit strapped to her back. “We’re both fine, Nicole, thank you.”

Nicole raced back into the house, the door slamming shut behind her. Carmilla turned to Danny, eyebrows raised in silent questioning.

“She faints at the sight of blood,” Danny explained sheepishly, running her hand through her messy red hair. “We are working on that.”

“So she joined the ‘bathe in the blood of defeated enemies’ society?”

Danny thrust a finger at Carmilla. “We expunged that from the charter!”

“You theoretically hunt live animals!”

“What exactly do you mean by ‘theoretically’?” Danny placed her hands on her hips, clearly forgetting any pretence of finally getting to act out her innate white knight urges. “We hunt!”

“Bunnies, babe, you hunt bunnies,” Carmilla said, effectively ending the argument before Danny could really get going. The absolute last thing Carmilla needed right now was an angry Danny. “How long do you see this plan of yours taking?”

Danny started walking towards the Hunting Lodge while she answered, “until the end of winter break, or earlier if Laura gives up.”

She bounded up the stairs and inside the building before Carmilla could process her words properly.

“’Gives up’? What is she giving up?” Carmilla yelled as she charged ahead into the Hunting Lodge. The noxious mixture of aerosol fumes smashed into her, necessitating a short sneezing fit.

Danny was at her side nearly instantaneously. She didn’t touch her like she normally would, with hands ever searching for a magical way to cure her girlfriend of all her problems. Carmilla flinched away and Danny’s serious mask fell back on again.

“I will have the girls air out the house, Countess,” she promised, disappearing further into the depths of the building in search of one of the few Summer Society girls who decided to stay over the winter break. The cruel scent of cigarette smoke momentarily blocked the cacophonous perfumes, causing Carmilla to cough again. “Scarlett, I swear to Artemis if you don’t go outside with that thing, I am making you eat it!”

Carmilla’s heart forgot about the Captain and her pain-bringing for a while, revelling in Danny’s angry den mother voice. Her girlfriend, after what essentially constituted begging from the Silas Faculty Wrangler, was now the Faculty Supervisor of the Summer Society, making her the ranking authority over all of the girls who joined. It gave her something to do while waiting for Carmilla and Laura to finish their degrees.

“Bite me, Baronet Big Shot!” Carmilla heard the possibly time-traveller yell back at Danny, but the cigarette stench stopped flowing all the same. Even with her limited experience with the Summer Society, Carmilla knew they weren’t a bunch of easily reigned in girls, so she felt a familiar pulse of admiration for how effortlessly her girlfriend ordered them all around.

While Danny barked orders at whoever else was still in the building, Carmilla took stock of the winter decorations the Summer Society had haphazardly put up all around the first floor. In the foyer, it seemed like a tinsel monster exploded, with shining metallic strands hanging off nearly every surface including the ceiling. She ventured into the kitchen to find a bust of Saint Nicolas made out of chocolate sitting in the middle of the meeting/poker table and more Christmas crackers than there were people in the house.

Carmilla resisted temptation and did not break off one of the man’s ears for a snack. She delicately traced the white spray paint on each and every window, admiring the exact stencil work. Off in the distant depths of the Lodge, she could hear Danny rousing more than one of the still-sleeping Summer Society girls. She sounded angry, yet endeared on a deeper level. Not for the first time, Carmilla cursed at her own ageless body, and the limitation it brought along.

“She’s totally going to want kids someday,” Carmilla whispered to herself. “That will be fun.”

Carmilla sat at the table, furiously attempting to push thoughts of post-graduation plans away. Thinking months ahead was one thing, decided what to do with the next human lifespan of her near immortal existence was a question for another day and possibly another decade. Thankfully, Danny’s heavy footed steps approached and Carmilla didn’t associate the sound with absolute terror. Baby steps.

“Countess?” Danny questioned the empty foyer, before taking her loud giant strides into the kitchen. “Countess! We have your room ready and the Lodge will be habitable shortly.”

She held out her elbow as soon as she was close enough for Carmilla to take it. Carmilla stared at the offered limb for a beat, considering getting offended.

“Baronet, did she say?” Carmilla quired, slipping her hand to rest delicately around Danny’s arm. The redhead positively shone with radiant joy and the silly pride she grew whenever she got to take care of Carmilla or Laura.

They set off up the first flight of stairs, Danny’s free laughter encircling Carmilla in warmth.

“Yes she did.”

“That’s not a real title, is it?”


	6. Helen of Troy

Carmilla knew for a fact that Danny lived in the basement of the Summer Society Hunting Lodge on the nights she could be bothered abandoning Laura and Carmilla and making the trek down into the woods. She technically had a claim on the master bedroom at the main Summer Society base, but relinquished it without a second thought when the Society experienced a massive surge of new membership after Carmilla’s Mother was dealt with.

Carmilla was even briefly jealous of the many admiring freshmen hanging around the Summer Society for a glimpse of their Ambassador to the Supernatural. Danny allowed herself to be tied up by the vampire. Carmilla stopped being jealous.

This knowledge left Carmilla confused as to why exactly she was being led up the many flights of stairs. She kept her hand clutching at Danny’s arm, and allowed some distance between them in deference to the rising bile of fear in her throat whenever Danny’s hair would flutter and draw her attention. Danny’s boots echoed as the clicked on the old wooden staircase. Carmilla had never been on the top floor of the Summer Society Hunting Lodge, and she was even more perplexed when they passed from the top of one set of stairs directly to another one.

She knew Silas had some of the most interesting architectural quirks in the world, however a building being taller on the inside than it appeared on the outside would be a new one in Carmilla’s experience. Wider and longer buildings were almost common, but taller?

“Forgive me for the presumption, I felt you would be more comfortable in the open air rather than confined to the basement.” Danny’s voice came out proper and restrained, and Carmilla was momentarily transported back to when she was alive. “The attic has been renovated to meet your needs, Countess.”

Carmilla laughed out loud. They started up the final steps towards an ornate trap door the clearly led to the attic. “When did you find the time?” She spoke, exaggerating the admiring undertones in her voice, with a mocking glee. “A week is an awfully short window to complete renovations.”

Danny’s ears went red again, and she stopped with one hand grasping the latch to the opening. She kicked at the floor with the tip of her boots, removing her hand from the latch to run it through her hair. Carmilla placed her free hand on her hip and stared at her girlfriend expectantly.

“Over the summer?” Danny answered nervously. She quickly changed Carmilla’s focus by throwing the hatch open and all but dragging the vampire up into the attic with her. “Your room!”

Danny presented the room to Carmilla with a sweeping impossibly long arm. Where dust and old crates had once been, there was now a well-lit loft apartment. The queen-sized bed sat on a raised platform only accessible via ladder off on one side of the room, its covers plain dark block colours. Carmilla marvelled at the gigantic skylight that had been cut into the roof of the building. She internally thanked all who were listening that rumours of sunlight being fatal to vampires were all greatly exaggerated. Along the opposite wall were floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, almost all of them empty.

The room smelled like Christmas exploded. Carmilla found herself searching the room for hidden caches of pine needles and buckets of peppermint candy. She supposed it was better than dust everywhere.

“A girl like me has a room in a place like this?” Danny ignored her in favour of grabbing what Carmilla recognised to be one of Laura’s backpacks and hurling it up onto the bed. Carmilla stepped further into the loft, noticing an extremely comfortable looking armchair that she itched to curl up on. It was unusually large and upholstered in a basic black that she knew she was going to get in trouble for leaving hair all over. “What did you mean by ‘if Laura gives up’?”

Danny froze, suddenly the floorboards were intensely interesting. Carmilla allowed her nearly a minute of silence to see if she would actually talk. She did not.

“Lawrence!” Danny physically jumped nearly a foot off the ground. She got so high that Carmilla was slightly concerned about her head hitting the relatively low ceiling. “What are you two doing?”

Danny’s mouth opened and closed as she searched for words to form into a coherent sentence. Her eyes widened when she hit upon a decent argument. “We are entertaining the students who have elected to stay behind for winter break while helping you work through your nightmares.”

Carmilla adored how many words Danny could force into one breath. “War games is the obvious solution to both of those problems.”

Danny’s eyes sparkled as she bared her teeth in a face-spitting grin. “Of course, we are geniuses.” Danny walked to stand in front of Carmilla, cautiously keeping her distance when her girlfriend flinched. “Only, it’s not so much with the ‘war games’ as it is ‘capture the vampire’.”

Danny winced, turning her face slightly away from Carmilla and raising a hand in self-defence. “I am not a flag!”

“Countess,” Danny recovered her seriousness, and the tone Carmilla was starting to associate with the title ‘Baronet’, whatever that was. “The Marquis de Hollis will stop at nothing until all of your kind are exterminated from this world.”

She moved forwards, coming to a stop mere feet away from Carmilla and bowing low again.

“My soldiers and I offer only our protection from this grievous threat to your life, Countess,” Danny finished, keeping her gaze locked on Carmilla’s in an effort to make the vampire believe her commitment. Even inside her own subconscious. Carmilla stared at her. Danny fidgeted underneath the scrutiny. “Safe feelings are good?”

Carmilla faltered at Danny’s question-like statement. The skylight would give her an excellent view of the nighttime sky and this far away from the campus proper there was bound to be almost no light pollution. The Summer Society ‘soldiers’ mostly found her fascinating aside from the one she kept under her thrall in retribution for attempted staking that one time. Her automatic negative reactions to the sight and thought of Danny was already improving after less than an hour of exposure to her. The mental image of Laura trying to be threatening and menacing nearly made her dissolve into a fit of giggles.

“I guess I’m bunking here for winter break then, Stretch,” Carmilla acquiesced, swinging her hips as she brushed passed Danny to inspect the bed she would be occupying as much as possible over the next two weeks. Or less, if Danny could pull off a miracle and defeat Laura and the Zetas. Carmilla doubted that, if a menacing Laura was laughable, then Danny planing and winning a militaristic engagement nearly brought Carmilla to tears. “Why does the Marquis want me dead? Did I refuse to submit to her sadistic desires?”

Danny sighed. “I told her, I did,” she said while wildly gesturing with her hands, “I told her picking the Marquis title would only end with an endless parade of what I’m sure you think are witty jokes.”

Carmilla ignored her. “Is she French? Am I going to be guillotined? Did you let her pick it in an elaborate Napoleon Complex joke?”

Danny closed her eyes. The long-suffering frown on her face didn’t help her much against the amused interest of Carmilla. “No-”

Carmilla started to ascend the ladder to her bed. She was glad that Danny couldn’t see the absolute joy on her face when she caught sight of Laura’s yellow pillow placed at the head of the bed. “Does Laura have sadistic desires we don’t know about? Is this a cry for kinkier sex?”

“Carmilla!” Danny spun and rushed to the bottom rungs of the ladder, catching herself before she kept going to tackle Carmilla onto the bed. A well-known Danny Lawrence distraction tactic. She calmed herself, though Carmilla could smell she was anything but, and she could see the twitching agitation in her girlfriend’s shoulders. “Laura can be a big girl and talk to us like a normal person if that’s what she wants.”

Carmilla’s eyebrows rose as Danny finally blushed. Her words caught up with her and Danny looked like a very nice canary for Carmilla to eat. “Oh my word, Baronet,” she pronounced the title like it was three in the morning and Danny’s hungry eyes were begging her permission from between her legs, “this is hardly a proper conversation to be having.”

Danny stood up straighter at that. Her spine cracking audibly as her perpetual hunch was flexed. She brought herself to her full and impressive height. Carmilla was immediately reminded of the Captain standing in the chapel doorway. She sidestepped the thought by diving head first into steely blue of Danny’s ever-loving gaze.

“No, it isn’t. I will leave you to get settled, Countess,” Danny announced as the drew one leg backwards to bow. She turned and made her way over to the still-open hatch. “Until tonight?”

“Perhaps,” Carmilla lay back on the bed, propping herself up on her elbows to stare at Danny’s red face, “if you admit you like calling me ‘Countess’.”

Danny laughed once at Carmilla’s teasing tone, regaining her cocky attitude as she called over her shoulder, “tomorrow then, Countess!”

Carmilla watched her go until red hair ducked underneath the floor and a lengthy pale arm slammed the hatch shut behind her. “It’s also improper for you to even be in my room!” Carmilla yelled at the closed entryway, unwilling to allow Danny the last word. She heard her girlfriend laugh anyway, and mentally pat herself on the back.

She lay back fully, stretching out on the sizable bed. Carmilla wondered if Danny was ever planing on telling her and Laura about her renovation project or if she was truly content to cramp her legs most nights sleeping in the twin bed in their shared dorm room. Moving so close to their graduation seemed silly, but Laura would go nuts in the Summer Society Hunting Lodge. There was an actual Amazon warrior living in the basement, the smoker of the group was absolutely a time-traveller from the 1920’s, the current President of the whole Summer Society was a girl called Winter! Carmilla could picture her truth-seeker of a journalistic girlfriend going through every inch of this place for the multitude of mysteries Carmilla knew ran all through this historic building.

A vampire in the attic would just seal the deal for her pint-sized intrepid reporter. If the rest of the world believed even half of the weird that went on at Silas University, Laura would be swimming in Pulitzer’s by the end of her time as a student.

Letting herself picture the future was a dangerous fire that Carmilla danced with frequently. The position of Dean remained vacant. Styria desperately needed an unbiased media presence. The Summer Society and the Zetas were expanding their joint protectionist policies into the greater Styria area. In theory, Carmilla could keep her two loves close for a lot longer than when Laura graduated and Carmilla filed the paperwork to claim the seven degrees worth of credits she’d earned over the decades.

As was always the case with her flights of fancy through her own imagination, she stopped short of making a plan to ask either Danny or Laura their opinions on the matter. J.P. opened doors for Danny on the locations of more than one lost archive filled with books and knowledge thought lost to the world. Carmilla saw the way Laura read international news reports on the weird and supernatural spreading further into the normality of human society, her eyes lit up with the wonder and determination to seek out the truth.

Carmilla really didn’t want to take her Mother’s old job, were she to be honest with herself.

She let her eyes fall shut as clouds drifted by through the skylight above her head. Carmilla slipped into a thankfully dreamless sleep. Darkness engulfed her and for once she welcomed the monotony.

The next thing she was aware of was the thumping strides on an angry Danny rapidly closing in on the attic and the idling of a motorbike coming from somewhere below her. Outside, presumably. Outside, hopefully, otherwise she was going to have to pull age-rank on her girlfriends’ silly ideas before something burned down that wasn’t supposed to do so.

“Are you decent, Countess?” Danny’s muffled voice asked through the hatch. Definitely pissed off, Carmilla thought.

“Rarely,” Carmilla replied just loud enough for her designated protector to hear. “But come on up anyway.”

Danny huffed her annoyance, but threw the wood wide open and appeared in the opening all the same. “We have company.”

“I will keep my clothes on then, Baronet,” Carmilla asserted, using her bedroom voice deliberately to rile the already ruffled Danny. It worked, Danny blushed again, though Carmilla couldn’t see why. None of the Summer Society girls appeared behind their Faculty Supervisor and Carmilla couldn’t sense any other kind of presence in her converted loft. “Why are we embarrassed?”

“They got within yards of the Lodge without my well-trained women-at-arms detecting either of them,” Danny spat through gritted teeth. Further answering Carmilla’s question, she moved to the window overlooking the front of the Hunting Lodge, opening it with one hand and waving Carmilla over with the other. Carmilla complied, curiosity pushing her to use her enhanced speed to get there faster while her sense of decorum kept her from appearing at Danny’s side instantaneously.

Carmilla stuck her head out the open window, decorum and restraint be damned. Forgetting herself and Carmilla’s current mental state, Danny instinctively placed a steadying hand on Carmilla’s lower back. The vampire registered the point of contact and leaned back into it without engaging her subconscious fears in the action. Besides, she was far too preoccupied with having one of her girlfriend’s standing below her window with adoration clear in her every movement.

“See!” Laura yelled up at Danny, off-handedly slapping Kirsch on the back of his bike until he chuckled along with her amused demeanour. Danny huffed again. “I said she would like it!”

“Leave or I’m shooting you both!” Danny called back down and aimed carefully with one of the apparently abundant paintball guns. Carmilla wondered if they were another contribution from Kirsch and the Zetas. If Danny owned one of them beforehand, Carmilla knew for certain that the clumsy giant would have shot herself with it at some point. Carmilla considered it an achievement that there wasn’t already some paint on her girlfriend somewhere.

Laura stomped her foot and whined at Danny while Carmilla smiled at them both. “I am willing to take that risk, Baronet!”

Beside her, closer than she had been without a roaring engine involved since Carmilla’s first nightmare, she felt Danny relax when Laura didn’t taunt and tease her like the vampire did. “We aren’t doing this!”

“We are too!” Laura continued her maturity streak of recent days, smiling brightly in the way neither Danny nor Carmilla could ever seem to match completely. “We should totally fight over Carmilla more!”

“Not one word, Countess,” Danny hissed at Carmilla before she could react to Laura. Her hand in the small of Carmilla’s back tensed delightfully as she returned her attention to Laura. “She isn’t Helen of Troy, Laura, we are not fighting over her like that!”

“I think I could launch two-maybe even three thousand ships,” Carmilla intoned lowly to Danny, bringing back the red to her ears. “And having gentlewoman callers fighting for my affections does appeal to the poet in my poor dead little heart.” Carmilla topped off her seduction with an innocent longing.

“Chicken!” Laura accused, hands on her hips and right-hand man almost falling off his perch with his silent cracking-up. “Is this because I outrank you?”

“Where does a Baronet rank, anyway?” Carmilla pondered into the cool nighttime air. “Hey! You outrank me too!”

Laura stood a little taller at Carmilla’s accusation, “damn right I do!”

“It’s like, between a Knight and a Baron,” Danny belatedly answered Carmilla’s question. Worryingly, the vampire’s eyes widened with glee.

“Sincerest apologies, you sick little sadist!” Carmilla crowed to Laura. “The gold-digging arm-candy makes an excellent proposal and I must decline your generous offer.”

“You will rue this day!” Laura promised and climbed onto the well-worn motorbike behind Kirsch.

Carmilla waved half-heartedly at Laura and Kirsch before ducking back from the window. She dragged Danny with her and waited until the motorbike took off to close the window. She craned her neck to lock eyes with Danny, belatedly noticing her smug grin. “What?”

“’Proposal’?” Carmilla felt her entire body stiffen in alarm. If she could blush, she would be fluorescent. Carmilla thought fast.

“Yes, ‘proposal’, interchangeable with proposition, submission, suggestion, overture-” Carmilla stopped herself. “These are not getting any better.”

“No, they are not, Countess,” Danny agreed with her stupid smug smile. “What were you saying about impropriety?”

Carmilla did not stomp her foot in frustration, she was far too mature for that sort of thing. She was much more comfortable putting herself on front-footing. “That without a legal proposal a Baronet would not have been allowed into a Countess’ company alone, given the time period you all seem to be shooting for,” Carmilla attacked mercilessly. “In fact, you wouldn’t be allowed to share the same air as me unless we were already married.”

Danny’s heart sped up. “Then I must leave you, Countess, for the night at least. My sincerest apologies for intruding upon your space,” she conceded. Danny made for the exit, leaving Carmilla with a familiar emptiness that had been absent since the invasion of the Captain into her mind.

“The Marquis has proved she can invade your land, perhaps I should be,” Carmilla stumbled on the right word, “guarded closely.”

Danny stopped.

“At least until you can identify and rectify the gaps in your defences?”

Danny tilted her head in agreement, unlacing her sword from her belts and moving to the armchair.

“As you wish, Countess.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna take a fortnight off from posting to maintain my six-chapter written buffer zone.
> 
> Sincerest apologies if I've been stupidly obvious about where this is going.


	7. Likes Doing Taxes

For a moment, Carmilla stood in absolutely blinding, silently screaming fear when reality caught up with her flirting mouth. She wanted to yell at Danny irrationally to get out again. The thought of sharing a bed with her girlfriend was distressing. Carmilla felt that non-existent bile rise up her throat, burning at her neck and stopping her from speaking, from stopping Danny from getting any closer than she already was to the ladder leading up to the bed.

 

To Carmilla’s shock, Danny did not move towards the bed at all. She placed her sword in a corner opposite to the armchair and crossed the widest length of the loft to collapse into the plush black chair. Danny kept her paintball gun in her lap, and leaned down to produce a thick book from inside the gap between the floor and the armchair.

 

“How long are you going to sit there?” Carmilla asked, barely above a whisper as fear kept her rooted still in place.

 

Danny answered easily and without hesitation. “Until you tell me to leave.”

 

“Danny-”

 

“Countess,” Danny interjected, her eyes pleading. “My sources tell me that you’ve slept little this week.” Carmilla playfully glared at her while internally cursing Laura for sharing that information with Danny. “I cannot become a beast to chase away the darknesses of the night, nor could I claim to have a comforting touch or sound or scent, however I can do this.”

 

Carmilla was enraptured by Danny’s determination. It was a perpetual motion machine that never seemed to need repair. On more than one occasion, Carmilla got the perverse pleasure of standing by as it nearly got her killed. She knew after three years together in one way or another, that if Danny Lawrence said she was going to do something, then she was going to do it or die trying. With complete certainty, Carmilla could depend on Danny to keep vigil over her for as long as her fragile human body would allow, and then for a few more hours after that.

 

“I’m not going to turn down sleep,” Carmilla said. She found the switch on the wall and sent the entire loft into darkness only broken by the moon’s light and a small lantern Danny seemingly got from nowhere. She carefully made her way up the ladder and lay down on top of the covers. Cuddling Laura’s pillow to her chest, she lay on her back and stared out at the stars. “I like what you’ve done with the roof.”

 

Carmilla could practically hear Danny’s smug smile. “I can’t take credit, your rant in the Library stuck with me for a while there.”

 

Carmilla sat up to peer at Danny through the darkness, “that was more than two whole years ago.”

 

“Well now I feel old,” Danny complained. Carmilla thumped back into the multitude of softness that was this incredible bed. When she could face her without her stomach clenching with unpleasant tension, she would have to ask Danny where the hell she got it and whose soul she sold to buy it. However, she was in a fussy mood so she grabbed one of the least necessary pillows and blindly threw it towards Danny’s head. It connected with a dull thud. “Also, the mature one in this relationship.”

 

“How dare you!” Carmilla whispered harshly in Danny’s general direction. “Laura likes doing taxes!”

 

“I completely forgot about that,” Danny admitted, all pretense of reading whichever inordinately long book she was reading this week abandoned. “We are both far too cool to be dating her.”

 

“We could have anyone,” speculated Carmilla, toying with the fraying edges of the pillowcase in her arms. “Anyone, anywhere.”

 

“I’ll take the Southern Hemisphere, you take the Northern, first one to find someone who’s better than Laura wins,” Danny challenged.

 

“Wins what?”

 

Danny went silent for a long time. Carmilla started to worry about her falling asleep mid-thought when Danny finally answered.

 

“The eternal shame of knowing you’re a liar.”

 

“She loves it when we get sappy on her, so stop it immediately,” Carmilla playfully snapped. They both went quiet. Carmilla tried to rest her body enough to sleep and Danny picked her forgotten book back up and opened it to her place. The quasi-comfortable silence stretched onward into minutes. Carmilla felt herself start to drift.

 

“For the record, it’s three thousand,” Danny said suddenly. Carmilla snapped back into focus, confused yet eager to listen to whatever Danny had to say. “Three thousand ships, with a crew of our admirers, to sail across any ocean in the world to earn a chance to fight for just one more moment with you.”

 

Carmilla held her tongue. Danny’s hushed voice and head bent over her book clearly indicated to the vampire that she was talking to herself. An odd quirk that Danny only did when she was beyond exhausted. Carmilla let her have the fantasy, the romantic notions, the things she wouldn’t say with anyone else around to hear it.

 

Carmilla left Danny to her reading in peace, allowing the tidal wave of exhaustion to flow over her weary body for the second time that day.

 

* * *

 

 

The wishful romanticism in Danny’s voice was gone.

 

God, Carmilla wanted it back. She wanted to wake up. Anything to make the Captain stop coming. Carmilla would steal Scarlett’s time machine and kidnap her girlfriends back through time to where she could seduce them with a single dance. Where Danny could command an actual militia and Laura could go wild on the strange occurrences of times gone by. The world lost its wonder while Carmilla lay buried.

 

“You think I need weapons to kill you?”

 

Carmilla was outside the chapel, backing away slowly from the ever-advancing Captain. She thanked her subconscious for allowing her the use of her legs, it comforted her, gave her hope. The Captain strode exactly as confidently as before, only now she had divested herself of her many weapons. The woman who would not stop looking like Danny no matter how hard Carmilla willed it advanced with her bare knuckles clenched white with anger.

 

“I don’t. You are weak, you know you’re weak,” the Captain taunted as Carmilla made relatively significant progress in escaping her wrath. “Lying there, thinking that someone like me could ever love something like you?”

 

The Captain rushed forward so fast that Carmilla’s artificially sluggish body couldn’t protect itself. She stopped mere inches away from the vampire. So close now that Carmilla could smell her death-like breath, and could see the tiny scars of a life lived in combat lining her face.

 

“You’re-”

 

“She trusted you! And you killed her regardless!” The Captain paced, her heart beating wildly. After a week of the same stalking, prowling human monster plaguing her every time she closed her eyes, Carmilla didn’t know how to deal with the same monster infected with a rabid anger that wasn’t there before. “You deserve the pain I will bring down upon you.”

 

The stars shone brilliantly behind the Captain’s furious face. Carmilla tricked herself into thinking she could see the outline of Laura and Danny in them. That she could block out the monster, that this could be all a dream.

 

But the fleeing men sounded familiar, and here was this woman. This woman who looked for all of Carmilla’s daydreams and idle musings to be her girlfriend taken from some hypothetical future. With her battle scars and the look of betrayal Carmilla feared seeing after every little detail of her long life became relevant.

 

Her failures, brought to life in the worst possible way. She spent nearly four years trusting Danny Lawrence, and it was one of the greatest achievements she would ever attain. Then here was this woman, on the mature side of thirty and ready to tear Carmilla limb from limb with her bare hands. All of her effort wasted.

 

“I’m going to kill you the moment you drop your guard, little vampire. And you know it.”

 

Carmilla heard the Captain, this future-Danny, speak but she could only focus on the thoroughbred racing of her heart.

 

* * *

 

 

“Carmilla!”

 

There were stars and now there was screaming. Young screaming, free screaming. Screaming from a distance.

 

It was close, but her rational mind stopped her body from launching itself across the room and taking her frustrations out on Danny’s worried face.

 

“It’s just a dream, okay? Nothing and no one is going to hurt you while you’re here,” Danny reassured, or she tried to. Carmilla could see even in her post-sleep haze that Danny had one hand in her pocket. No doubt ready to call Laura down to the Hunting Lodge to deal with the problems Danny couldn’t. “I’m not going to attack you, I don’t even have any weapons.”

 

She didn’t, Carmilla could see her discarded paintball gun lying over near her sword. She flinched away from both weapons, which brought her closer to Danny and her galloping heart. Carmilla, in a twisted kind of way, thanked Mother for removing her need to breath. Overwhelmed, she did the only safe thing she could think of with her addled mind.

 

Carmilla dived underneath the covers and stuffed Laura’s pillow over head. Danny’s heart slowed immediately in the confusion and Carmilla’s utter terror started to slip away.

 

The sat in the silence, allowing Danny’s racing heart to slow and Carmilla a minute to collect herself. Carmilla kept herself in the safety of the dark burrow she’d created. Danny finally took her eyes of Carmilla’s shaking body to message Laura.

 

“What if it’s not?” Danny startled at Carmilla’s muffled voice. She couldn’t quite make out what the vampire said, the heartbreak in her tone was bad enough.

 

“I can’t hear you with a pillow over your head, you big dumb vampire,” Danny teased, keeping her voice as light as possible. She was extremely aware of her body, and any threatening movements she could be presenting, and couldn’t seem to hold herself still.

 

Carmilla whined quietly in the back of her throat, Danny didn’t hear it. She hesitantly removed some of her safety so the coolness of the open air flowed over her lips. “What if it isn’t a dream?”

 

Danny tried to shrug this thought off. “Like, a repressed memory?”

 

Carmilla snorted, perpetually amused by Danny’s eternal optimism. “No, like a vision.”

 

Danny huffed with a frustration usually reserved for Carmilla and Laura’s midnight forays into the kitchen for more sugar. “First you can walk in sunlight, then it was thralling people, now you’re psychic. Someone needs to start cataloging the adventures of Carmilla, the vampire with more powers than Superman.”

 

“You’ll be the first to know if I figure out flight,” Carmilla joked, facing the fear head on, taking Danny’s change of tone for the out that it was. “So many plans for that day.”

 

“Hovering exactly one foot off the ground?”

 

Carmilla stretched lazily inside her cocoon, dislodging half of the overwhelming number of pillows the Summer Society had decided she needed. “I believe that everyone should experience the weather at the same time, you’ve had a meteorological advantage over me for far too long, Cliff.”

 

The pillow she’d thrown at Danny earlier came crashing back into her body.

 

“No dog jokes, we agreed!” Danny hissed, her heart finally back to its steady rhythm. Carmilla selectively liked to ignore their moratorium on dog and cat jokes unless Laura starts it. One of the many compromises they had to engineer during the early months of their relationship. “It’s mean and Kirsch gets jealous.”

 

Danny slumped back into her chair, toeing at her discarded gun like the thought of Kirsch reminded her that she was technically at war with him currently. Carmilla laughed silently, coming further out of her safe space. “Well if the puppy gets all jealous.”

 

“You were asleep for hours,” Danny threw out and changed their course again. “You think you’re having, what, premonitions?”

 

“The Captain, she’s you,” Carmilla began, her words coming out slowly as she tried to phrase her thoughts the right way. “She’s the worst of you, when you thought I was going to hurt Laura.”

 

Carmilla paused and Danny filled the silence. “The Summer Psycho?”

 

“I miss her dearly,” Carmilla said sarcastically and placed a hand over her heart. “So much so, that I’m apparently having visions of her all grown up and actually frightening.”

 

Danny didn’t reply. She furrowed her brows and searched Carmilla’s face for lingering indications that she would rather not be in Danny’s company. Carmilla rolled her eyes, understanding with a deep pang of longing that this must be the feeling of over-protectiveness that Laura complained about. It was oddly nice to have someone worry so intensely over her.

 

“Do you want to try again? See if she goes away?” Danny asked and relaxed comfortably into her armchair with a strong exhale. “Maybe you only have one vision per day?”

 

Carmilla could also see Laura’s point about Danny behaving with a condescension usually only reserved for parents. Logically, that is. In practice, all Carmilla could focus on was the flexing of Danny’s muscles beneath her skin. The lengthy, toned limbs that screamed to cross the room and forcibly remove any thoughts Carmilla could have about anyone but the real and present Danny. Carmilla would have let her, surrendering to her baser desires without a second thought, if the overpowering image in her mind wasn’t the Captain striding towards her, murderous fury radiating from her long form.

 

“I doubt it,” Carmilla shared, “future you is just as persistent as present you.”

 

Carmilla didn’t bring up any comparisons when Danny’s head quirked to the side with confusion. “Future me? How could you tell?”

 

“Little things, lines on your face that aren’t there now. Scars, too,” Carmilla admitted, having long since abandoned feigning indifference towards her girlfriends. “Just, older.”

 

Danny traced over her own face, imagining hard won scars and battles yet to be fought. She couldn’t picture herself on horseback, weapons gleaming with silver plating and a cruel Terminator-like determination to murder the hell out of one of her girlfriends. Laura was possessed and nearly sliced through her femoral artery and Danny still loved her until the end of the universe. To go after Carmilla because she made a mistake seemed so odd to her now that she suspected Carmilla’s visions to be of a future that contained body-snatchers. Danny could never. “She was on horseback, right?”

 

Carmilla nodded, glad she was yet to be tormented by the already imposing Captain on the back of a giant beast.

 

“While I do know how to ride a motorbike pretty awesome,” Danny paused to smirk at Carmilla, “horse riding is a bit beyond my many talents.”

 

Carmilla considered this, trying to imagine present day Danny astride a noble steed decked out in silver plated armour. Despite her dreams, the picture wouldn’t materialise no matter how hard she tried. “Good point, you’d end up underneath it after five minutes.”

 

“So mean to me,” Danny accused, her ears tinting red again just like they always did when Carmilla poked at her. “Laura can ride a horse,” Danny mentioned offhandedly.

 

“Our dear naive provincial girl,” Carmilla agreed affectionately. “So very quaint.”

 

“Was there not horse riding in the seventeenth century?” Danny teased, but with an underlying genuine curiosity. “Countess,” she added sweetly.

 

“I was much too ill for such strenuous physical activities,” Carmilla put on her best upper class twit voice to answer. “Sick little girl turned into a sick little vampire, and horses become useless when you can outrun them.”

 

“You were sick?” Danny latched onto the detail. “With-?”

 

“Let’s just say I was delicate and leave it there, please?” Carmilla pushed out passed her teeth. Danny respectfully let the matter drop before inspecting her phone. The glow from the device drew Carmilla’s attention to how dark the room was, and reminded her that she had absolutely no idea what time it was aside from ‘night’.

 

“I should go,” Danny stated as she put her phone away. “I might have bribed the girls with dessert for breakfast and the cookies will take some time to make properly.”

 

Carmilla burst out laughing, clutching her side as she rolled around on the bed. She briefly flashed backwards in time to numerous doctors diagnosing her with hysteria and regained some of her carefully crafted cool. “What time is it?” Carmilla asked through her bout of joy.

 

Danny grinned and forced the dark lines of exhaustion from her face, Carmilla missed them immediately. “Four in the morning.”

 

Carmilla calmed her laughter down with a groan. “I feel like I haven’t slept for a month.”

 

“Lends legitimacy to your ‘visions from the future’ theory, maybe you haven’t been asleep since the first nightmare,” Danny hypothesised while wiggling her fingers mysteriously. “Can you die from lack of sleep?”

 

“I don’t know, can you?” Carmilla hit back childishly. She immediately thought that despite herself and Danny being collectively three hundred and fifty years old, Laura was absolutely the mature one in this relationship. “Never mind, not as far as I’m aware of. I haven’t exactly been experimenting with jumping off bridges, Red.”

 

Danny took that for a complete answer and thankfully dropped the subject, rightly identifying that chatting about death wouldn’t be of any help to Carmilla or her current mental state. “Don’t.”

 

Carmilla’s attention snapped to Danny and her quiet scared tiny voice.

 

“’Don’t’?” Danny shuffled her feet nervously.

 

“Go jumping off bridges,” Danny clarified, turning away from Carmilla and heading towards the exit. She crouched down to open the hatch and twisted back to glance at Carmilla as she continued, “I have plans for you that depend on your continued survival, sick little vampire.”

 

Danny disappeared down into the main Hunting Lodge. Carmilla swallowed a sudden lump forcing its way upwards.

 

“Sap,” Carmilla said into the emptiness of her room, flopping back onto the bed overwhelmed by her twisting emotions. The Captain terrified her, the real deal made her melt.


	8. What Are You Wearing?

Carmilla did not get back to sleep.

Instead she indulged her curiosity and padded carefully across the loft to steal Danny’s abandoned book, which she noted with a strange sense of pride her girlfriend had gotten almost halfway through in the hours Carmilla was asleep. She turned the lengthy book in her hands, sniffing derisively at the cheap bindings on it. ‘The Great Hunt’ by Robert Jordan, it read on the cover. Carmilla could smell the age in the book, and surmised that this wasn’t the first time Danny had read it by the cracking along the spine. It said it was the second book in the series so Carmilla placed it carefully back onto the chair and cast around for some other entertainment.

She found nothing in the sparsely furnished room, though she did spot a phone charger sticking out of a socket off next to her bed. Carmilla inspected it while removing her phone from the bag Danny and Laura had packed for her. She saw that her phone was dead and that the charger would only fit her phone, unlike the multi-chargers they had to get for their shared room due to three different tastes in phones.

Carmilla allowed her phone some time to have life jolted back into it by distracting herself yet again with the view out of the skylight. She traced the constellations she knew in the air and made up new ones for the stars that didn’t belong to any others.

Her phone flashed into life as soon as it had the battery life to do so. Immediately announcing that ‘C is for Cookie’ and ‘She Blinded Me With Science’ and ‘Every Girl Crazy ‘Bout A Sharp Dressed Man’. Carmilla cursed herself for allowing her phone to fall into the tormenting clutches of her girlfriends. Then she wondered how they got personalised text message tones. Followed by a goofy grin she was delighted no one saw when Laura messaging her fully registered.

‘I recommend that you keep the windows closed at breakfast tomorrow.’ Carmilla stared at the message from Laura in confusion. It was received just minutes after Laura and Kirsch left and had her warily regarding the thankfully closed windows. She didn’t reply, feeling that conversing with their declared enemy would be considered betraying Danny in the game she’d orchestrated. Carmilla backed out of Laura’s message thread and pressed into LaFontaine’s.

‘jp says storm clouds in library, ideas?’ That couldn’t be good, however it wasn’t affecting Silas anywhere outside of the Library so Carmilla made an executive decision. She replied that it could wait until LaFontaine got back from their science field trip. Everyone Carmilla would call on for allies was apparently spending the rest of winter break playing with guns and pointy objects anyway. If anything went wrong, they were more than ready.

Carmilla braced herself for whatever Brody Kirsch could possibly be texting her about, and vowed revenge on whichever one of her girlfriends was giving out her number to any idiot who asked. ‘wont tel tiny hotie wat I found undr ur bed.’ A white-hot lance of rage struck through her, knowing exactly what he’d found. Followed quickly by deep embarrassment and apprehension because she didn’t want him telling Danny either. She responded to him to that effect and threw her phone onto the other side of the bed in disgust at herself.

She lay back to watch the sky as the sun began to rise. The midnight blue gave way to an ever-lightening array of soothing tones until the bright orange and red bleeding of the sun chased away all the blue for a few beautiful minutes.

The scent of Danny’s surprisingly good homemade cookies slipped through the gaps in the hatch, making Carmilla’s stomach try to convince her that it still needed human food rather than humans as food. Carmilla breathed in deeply through her nose, enjoying the smell if not the finished product. If Danny’s plan went right then a whole mess of the Summer Society was giving up their winter break to help her. Carmilla didn’t feel like intruding on their bribe.

Laura clearly had no such reservations.

Something thumped into a window. Carmilla sat up with a jolt to investigate. A patch of one of the windows was now painted a lovely shade of blue. Then another one was. One was slashed with a violent green. The Hunting Lodge was under attack.

Carmilla grabbed her phone and raced over to an unblemished window to catch sight of Laura. She kept herself low, lest her viewpoint be blocked by the attacking paintball barrage. She could hear the wet slapping of paint on paint all over the house and there was a distinct rise in the voices coming from the Lodge below her.

She peered out of the window, and was extremely surprised that Laura was actually going with a full-on surprise attack. Carmilla couldn’t pick out her girlfriend or any of her frat boy allies in the tree line. The paintball bullets came thick and fast, with very little resistance from the Summer Society as of yet.

Carmilla heard Danny barking orders again, and the scraping sounds of wooden chairs being thrown back quickly. Thundering footsteps came up the stairs followed by Danny bursting into the loft so fast Carmilla thought she opened the hatch with her head. This would not surprise Carmilla all that much.

“I’m going to murder Laura when this is over,” Danny growled. She climbed the ladder and felt around underneath Carmilla’s bed. She produced two fully loaded paintball guns and slid across the shiny floor on her knees to rest next to Carmilla. Danny pressed herself against the wall like she was an action hero.

“Why hello there,” Carmilla drawled. Danny playfully glared at her, bumping into her shoulder. Carmilla found that Danny armed with harmless weapons was almost okay for her subconscious to deal with. Or at least the fear faded into the background of her thoughts and feelings.

“We are under attack,” Danny whined. Carmilla belatedly noticed the warpaint her girlfriend had smeared over her eyes in a hurry if the uneven painting was anything to go by. “And she’s ruining the paint job! I only finished that last week!”

Carmilla glared at her girlfriend. “You were on a ladder, painting things, and you didn’t invite me to come and watch?”

Danny opened the window a crack, exposing Carmilla to the dull noise of air being expelled by Laura’s guns. Her facial muscles contracted in concern or possibly worry. “I’m sorry I didn’t consider your viewing pleasure when maintaining my home.”

Carmilla sniffed derisively. “You should be, and you’re fixing our sink as punishment.”

“What did you two do to it now?” Danny asked, poking her head up to try and catch sight of Laura.

“Nothing,” Carmilla admitted, drawing her short nails over Danny’s exposed arm teasingly. “Yet.”

Danny raised an eyebrow at Carmilla. “Please don’t break the sink again on purpose,” Danny begged and shoved one of her gun barrels through the crack in the window, firing blindly into the trees. A loud male squeal sounded out in the otherwise quiet dawn.

“I think you got him,” Carmilla whispered helpfully. Danny swatted at her and quickly popped up and back down again. “Did you get him?”

“Yes,” Danny hissed, “the girls are keeping them inside the trees. I think Laura climbed one of the damn things.”

“What!” Carmilla stood up fully and gazed keenly through one of the few remaining clear areas of the window. Now that she had the Summer Society girls actively firing back at the attackers she could clearly see Laura’s tiny body perched on a sturdy-looking branch, one arm clinging to the tree trunk and the other holding a wildly firing paintball gun. “Go make her get down!”

Carmilla shoved Danny, who laughed at the worried vampire. Carmilla turned on her, furious and pointed angrily. Danny kept laughing at her. “She’s not ten, she can climb a tree safely.”

“Who are you and what have you done with my Danny?” Carmilla shouted. Danny picked herself up of the ground and lost her self control. She slid a hand around Carmilla’s neck and crashed their lips together. Carmilla melted, grabbing at Danny’s tank top to keep her close. Danny moaned, deepening the kiss.

Danny pulled back first and Carmilla’s lips tried to follow. “I need to go,” Danny whispered while she pressed their foreheads together. Carmilla debased herself further by whining her displeasure again. “We’re going to run out on ammo on the first day if Laura keeps this up.”

“How is that more important than getting back over here?” Carmilla argued even as Danny reluctantly pulled further away. She grabbed one of Carmilla’s hands and tenderly kissed the back of it.

“Until tonight, Countess,” Danny whispered, maintaining eye contact as she backed out of the room, only turning away when she reached the hatch in the floor.

Carmilla lightly bashed her head against the windowsill. “Totally on board with the murdering Laura,” she grumbled to herself. She had Danny right next to her and the fear wasn’t there anymore!

The attack lasted for exactly three more minutes, when Danny expertly lobbed a water balloon full of red food colouring directly at Laura in her tree and the Marquis and her men were forced to retreat literally red-faced. Carmilla felt that this was suitable punishment.

Danny kept her word and didn’t reappear until well after sunset.

Carmilla found plenty of things to amuse herself with, including the Summer Society girl who brought her breakfast. Carmilla wasn’t remotely scary to any member of the Summer Society or the Zetas anymore. News of her so-called ‘goo-goo’ eyes at Laura and then later Danny had spread through the supernaturally aware segments of Silas society like wildfire. Laura’s videos made it more than clear that both she and Danny would not be tolerating any feeding on or sacrificing of the general population (yes, even if they annoy you) and so Carmilla had all the menace of a de-clawed kitten.

Then a girl whose name she hadn’t previously bothered with came climbing into her loft. The girl had blue paint stuck in her hair and nearly dropped the tray she was holding when she saw recognition light up Carmilla’s face.

“Come to try again? I’ll give you one free hit,” Carmilla teased as she lazily made her way down the ladder to the trembling girl. “I have been banned from thralling anyone after your little stunt forced my hand, so you can relax.”

“I-Breakfast?” The girl’s voice came out near supersonic, and she placed the tray at the modest table in the middle of the room and scurried back down through the hatch before Carmilla could get another word in. Instead she spoke into the empty loft.

“Too strong? Do I smell or something?” Carmilla experimentally sniffed at herself, and found nothing that would repel women. She stomped her way over to the table and sat down to whatever culinary experiment Danny was trying this week and found a stack of pancakes drowned in what Carmilla assumed to be maple syrup blended with human blood. Carmilla took a bite and moaned at the glorious mixing of sugar and blood. She was starting to develop a theory that Danny was attempting to replicate the taste of Laura’s blood with only Carmilla’s scant descriptions to go by. If so, her girlfriend was doing a damn fine job.

“C is for cookie,” her phone sounded. Carmilla lazily picked it up, wondering how Laura’s phone managed to survive the bath Danny gave her.

‘Danny is being a dick.’ Carmilla smiled, picturing Perry’s look of horror when Laura and Kirsch showed up covered in food colouring. Then her thoughts turned to Laura storming her way into a hot shower to get it all off and Carmilla had to stop thinking about it because she didn’t think she was getting any for at least a week.

‘If you keep calling her that, Silas’ sense of humour will kick in and neither of us want that, cupcake.’ Carmilla sent back, thanking her Mother’s actual hoard of gold treasures and the unlimited texting plan Perry put the three of them on after their second ‘rent for a month’ sized phone bills.

“C is for cookie.” Carmilla set her phone to silent. Remembering the nineteen separate occasions where she’d been stopped from finally sleeping with Danny for the first time by one of their phones going off, Carmilla wasn’t taking any chances.

‘What r u wearing?’ Carmilla nearly cracked her phone in a burst of shocked strength, and she almost choked on the piece of pancake she was in the middle of demolishing. The phone vibrated in her hand. ‘Sorry, surrounded by dudes, thought it was funny.’

‘It was not.’

Laura went silent until well after Carmilla finished her breakfast and the same Summer Society girl dashed in to take away her dishes. The girl also left behind a cooler filled with blood packets with a note consisting only of Danny’s signature and her unmistakable scent.

‘Shall I compare thee to a summers day?’

Carmilla giggled, ‘we are not having the dark lady argument again, no matter how much you pout.’

‘Would a topless selfie change your mind?’

Carmilla gave up on answering after six non-starter attempts and settled on calling her girlfriend instead. Laura picked up immediately.

“I would like to take this opportunity to remind you that thirty frat boys can see me right now,” Laura started off with, rushed and whispered.

“Then why, dim love of mine, are you offering to take your shirt off?” Carmilla fired back, inspecting her nails for chips in her carefully applied black finish.

Laura spluttered and Carmilla could picture her holding the phone to her ear with her shoulder and waving her free hands around wildly. “I have a few saved to bribe Danny into coming over,” she eventually admitted, her voice quietening as she finished earnestly.

“And you don’t invite me? I’m offended and I think you should stay outside in the cold for a while longer, cupcake,” Carmilla ended. She hung up on Laura and investigated the remaining unidentified door inside her loft.

The door gave way easily and she was greeted with a simple but elegant bathroom. Carmilla smirked as she lifted her shirt over her head and unclipped her bra. She faced the wall opposite and took a picture of her bare back in the mirror.

She sent it to Laura and went about having her shower. After turning the sound back on of course. “C is for cookie.”

“That’s good enough for me,” Carmilla sang.

* * *

 

The day dragged on and she remained terrified of whatever nightmare awaited her in her dreams. Her usual coping tactic of sleeping until the problem went away taken from her, Carmilla sat at the window perched on the arm of the chair she already associated as belonging to Danny and watched a small war be fought in her name. The rush of raw power hit her in waves, that she could compel her girlfriends to marshal troops and gather weapons just because she had a few bad dreams had her drunk on either love or superiority.

Probably love.

She watched as Kirsch circled the Hunting Lodge in long slow arcs while Summer Society girls went out and fought off Zeta boys with pulled punches and what Carmilla assumed to be Capture the Flag rules. Get pinned, go back to base and wait. She wondered how long her girlfriends reasonably expected to keep this up, with the air getting ever colder and only the Silas Faculty Official Moratorium on any and all snowing keeping them from being knee deep in ice. Carmilla knew that they wanted to keep going for a week or more but how much longer could the boys handle being out in the cold.

Carmilla didn’t foresee a victory for Laura.

Laura continued to pester her throughout the day with her constant texting. She sent poems, sonnets, and song lyrics all falling on Carmilla’s teasing silence. Eventually, Laura gave up around dinnertime.

Something tapped at her paint-stained windows. And then it tapped again, and again, and again. It kept going for several minutes while Carmilla debated whether this was part of Laura and Danny’s little role-playing game or not.

She hesitantly inched over to the window she presumed was having rocks pelted at it. Carmilla laughed as she heard three rocks miss their target in a row, bouncing uselessly off the wooden frame. She unlocked the window and pushed it open. A thought popped into her head about Laura tricking her into dropping part of the Summer Society’s defenses but dismissed it. There was no way Laura got close enough to throw pebbles at Carmilla’s windows without Danny or one of the girls noticing. Again.

Depressingly, Carmilla thought that the ‘war’ her girlfriends were fighting was seriously including a dinner break. She rolled her eyes even though neither of them could see her, they would know in their hearts that Carmilla thought they were being ridiculous.

“I was running out of pebbles!” Laura called up when Carmilla appeared in the window. She looked smaller than usual, her head craned back to grin stupidly up at Carmilla. “Way to keep a girl waiting!”

“It may have escaped your notice, cupcake, but you’ve spent the last two days trying to kill me,” Carmilla observed, her voice only just loud enough for Laura to hear her. “Forgive me for hesitating.”

Laura adjusted what looked like a double-barreled paintball gun hanging around her neck. “I’ve reconsidered my position on the ‘burning at the stake’ thing!”

“What ever would replace it with?”

Laura’s face did that thing it did when Carmilla knew she was about to develop a migraine. Smug happiness, that was it. “I’m thinking a gold bikini-”

“Danny!” Carmilla screamed, perhaps a little over-dramatically. “The Marquis is trying to kill me!”

Laura turned and ran as fast as her short little legs would carry her, pursued doggedly by the much faster Danny who came galloping out of the house.

Carmilla mentally patted herself on the back. The dinner break was no more and war raged anew.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I sincerely promise that this isn't just going to be 80k of fluff and silliness.


	9. Promises Promises

Danny stumbled up the ladder to Carmilla’s loft well past sunset. She could barely keep her eyes open, and seemed to be using her sword in its sheath as a walking stick to keep herself upright. Carmilla, taking no heed of the unease flowing out of her body for the second time that day, rushed to her girlfriend’s side and insistently wrapped one of her long arms around her sturdy shoulders as she helped Danny to the bed. Danny made a tired attempt to go to the armchair she had spent the previous night awake comfortably sitting in, Carmilla dragged her towards the bed with enough force to imply that she absolutely would resort to lifting her off the ground to remove all avenues of escape. Again.

The second ladder presented Carmilla with a challenge, though Danny solved it herself by bending herself until she could use her free hand to guide her weary body up the rungs. She only slipped once and Carmilla called that a victory. All but throwing Danny onto the bed, and smiling when Danny instinctively rolled onto what they’d figured to be ‘her side’ of the bed, Carmilla ranted under her breath about her stubborn humans trying to get themselves hurt all the time.

“C is for cookie.” Carmilla’s phone lit up in her back pocket and Danny giggled as if she were high.

“And that’s good enough for me,” Danny finished. Smirking. Carmilla glared, finally knowing which girlfriend got at her phone. Danny responded by fishing her own device out of her leather jacket and unlocking it. Carmilla ignored her and focused on reading whatever Laura wanted. Carmilla really couldn’t carry both of her girlfriends to bed while they were on opposite sides of the Silas campus. She’d try if asked, but she didn’t think it was likely.

‘Goodnight ‘til it be ‘morrow. Kiss Danny for me?’ Laura’s text read. Carmilla eyed Danny with her usual predatory grin, vowing to take Laura as literally as possible in the coming hours once Jolly Red had a nap.

“Pour some sugar on me!” Her phone sang at her. ‘Get your cute butt over here.’ Carmilla read the message, before turning to glare at Danny and her amused little smile.

“Please?” Danny pleaded, drawing the word out to seven syllables long. “The bed misses you.”

“Oh the bed misses me?” Carmilla challenged, slowly walking towards her girlfriend. If her hips swung a little more deliberately than usual then Carmilla could hardly be held accountable. Her body reacted on its own whenever it was given a compliment. “Another day at Silas, another sentient being to deal with.”

Danny sat up, energised by Carmilla’s provocative movements along with her painfully lengthy removal of her shirt. She kept her mind occupied elsewhere by struggling to remove her motorcycle boots. Carmilla laughed when her hands slipped and she nearly kneed herself in the face.

“Why did anyone let you near a motorcycle? It’s a miracle you haven’t crashed into a lake yet,” Carmilla asked through her peels of laughter. Danny pouted in response.

“Actually,” Danny trailed off, her ears flushing. Carmilla took the ladder up to the bed in two great strides. She launched herself onto the bed, narrowly missing Danny’s head with one of her feet.

“You drove into a lake?” Carmilla asked while bouncing on the bed. Danny pushed the vampire until she was nearly falling off the bed. “Hey!”

“Don’t be mean,” Danny teased. “It was more of a swimming pool than a lake.”

Carmilla stuffed her face into a pillow to avoid cracking up completely. Danny whacked her with one of the other pillows.

“I’ll hand you over to the evil, evil Marquis and you can spend the night outside in the freezing cold,” Danny threatened through her own chuckles. Carmilla lifted her head up to glare before dropping back down with a grumble. “Poor baby.”

Carmilla kicked at Danny and she went flying off the bed.

“Will you stop doing that!”

Carmilla ignored the indignant protests and started work on removing her own boots and wiggling out of her overly tight jeans. Danny continued her disgruntled mumbling on the floor for several minutes. She stayed down there for so long that Carmilla started to worry that her girlfriend was actually angry at her and not playing like they usually did.

She dragged her usual sleeping shirt, some sporting jersey Laura bought as a joke, out from inside the yellow pillowcase and flicked her bra in Danny’s general direction. Carmilla’s concern only grew when Danny didn’t respond at all. A pair of motorcycle boots went flying across the room, followed closely by a leather jacket and a pair of black high-waisted jeans.

“Did you fall asleep down there?” Carmilla questioned the empty air above where she presumed Danny was lying. Still no response. Carmilla considered throwing her panties down as well, but a fleeting and light pang of fear stopped her. She smiled, content that the problem was receding on its own and that all could end well. Her girlfriends even found a way to keep themselves entertained that didn’t involve Carmilla having an impossible aneurysm with worry. Tree climbing and dirt bike riding she could deal with, putting their fragile human bodies on the line for totally unnecessary journeys into the unknown depths of Silas University was beyond Carmilla’s abilities to keep cool.

A functional black bra hit Carmilla in the face.

“No, just thinking,” Danny finally responded. A pale finger thrust upwards as Carmilla opened her mouth to crack back at her. “One word, and I am burning your vintage Victor Hugo collection.”

Carmilla gasped and launched herself off the bed to land directly on top of Danny. She flicked at Danny’s nose. “How dare you threaten my books, like a savage!”

Danny wrapped her arms around Carmilla, as the vampire took in how little clothing they were wearing between them. “Hi there,” Danny whispered, her face holding closer to Carmilla’s than it had been for more than a week. “Laura can literally burn you at the stake but I’m the Devil herself for burning some little French books?”

“Yes,” Carmilla replied, flicking Danny’s nose again. “Just because you hate French literature, doesn’t mean you can go around burning mine.” Carmilla resettled herself on her forearms, firmly planting them on either side of Danny’s head. Danny visibly swallowed.

“Maybe I’m not appreciating them in the original French.” Danny’s grip loosened, her hands resting comfortably on Carmilla’s hips. “If only I knew someone who speaks every language ever,” Danny wondered, pinching lightly at Carmilla’s side until the vampire squirmed on top of her.

“It would take me a year or more to read all of ‘Les Misérables’ to you, Red. It would be faster to teach you French,” Carmilla softly explained. Danny lit up. Carmilla found herself grinning along with her. Danny’s joy was inevitably infectious, no matter how Carmilla tried to affect an air of indifference. “What?”

“It will be an honour to learn French from the woman who nearly killed Napoleon,” Danny forced out before being overcome with laughter again. Carmilla flattened herself on the body beneath her, making all of her weight dead and causing Danny to groan in discomfort.

“Danny Amelia Earhart Lawrence, I met him once in passing in Portugal, will you please stop bringing it up!” Danny rolled them over in response, ensuring that she would have the upper hand for at least a moment. “Oh no you don’t, we are having a serious talk about things that are okay to bring up about my past!”

Danny ignored her, forgetting Carmilla’s nightmares and the Captain and Laura being so far away from them for a minute, and peppered kisses all over the struggling vampire’s face. “Was he a better kisser than me? Than Laura?”

Carmilla gave up on her protestations, choosing instead to shut Danny up in her usual method. She wiggled her arms free from Danny’s extraordinary multitude of endless limbs and wound her hands into ginger hair, tugging gently downward. Their lips pressed together and Carmilla felt like she was home for the first time in a week. All the safety and support and love she’d spent the last three years of her afterlife building with this woman came rushing back. It burned through her with every scrape of Danny’s teeth and every press of her fingertips.

The freezing cold of the harsh Styrian winter continued on outside. The floorboards were chilled like the rest of the room. Carmilla didn’t notice, like she didn’t notice the heat of the Marquis flames or the cold of the depths of the Library. She used as much of her body as possible to protect Danny from the cold.

They lay intertwined and entirely immodest on the floor until Danny’s body eventually gave in to the elements around it. Carmilla pulled back, tugging at Danny’s hair to stop her lips from following. Danny whined, Carmilla bit back a dog joke.

“You’re no use to me if you have hypothermia, Baronet,” Carmilla explained directly into her lovers ear, nuzzling at her neck when she was done. “The Marquis will invade your broken-hearted forces and kidnap me for nefarious purposes.” Carmilla kept her tone seductive, hoping to assuage Danny’s ego. Being human annoyed her more than she would have preferred. Not being able to keep up with Carmilla led to more than her fair share of bruised pride pouting and passive aggressiveness.

“But-” Carmilla silenced her with another quick kiss.

“We have all night,” she murmured, “I’m merely suggesting a warmer location.” Carmilla ducked her head while Danny’s brain caught up with Carmilla’s words, biting harmlessly along her gorgeous neck. Danny moaned and slipped her arms fully around Carmilla’s body, leveraging her long, powerful legs with no small amount of help from Carmilla wrapping her limbs around her to lift the vampire cleanly off the floor.

Carmilla released her legs from around Danny as she was pressed into the bed. Cold hands slipped up her legs, trailing past her panties and stopping to pull at her shirt. Carmilla tugged their lips back together. She forgot about her nightmares while Danny scraped and scratched at her stomach. Danny once again was forced to give in to her human limitations, breaking the kiss as her lungs screamed for air. Carmilla again bit at her neck while Danny panted heavily.

“B-Babe!” Danny cried out, pushing lightly at Carmilla’s hips to get her to back off. She pulled back reluctantly.

“What? Are you-?” Carmilla started to ask. Her face as the picture of concern, searching Danny’s face for signs of discomfort. She didn’t think she broke the skin with her bites, but it wouldn’t be the first accident they’d had.

“Fine, fine. Are you?” Danny asked. Carmilla growled her response, attacking Danny’s stupid overprotective neck. “Yeah, you’re fine,” Danny breathed out, roughly grasping at any skin she could find.

Carmilla purposefully broke Danny’s skin, licking and sucking at the wound until it stopped flowing. Danny’s breath hitched, and her hands diverged, one reaching up to palm Carmilla’s breast while the other toyed lazily up and down the outside of her thigh. Carmilla made a pleased noise in the back of her throat and tightened her grip on Danny’s hair.

“Am I clear?” Carmilla whispered into Danny’s ear, taking the lobe in between teeth.

“Yes, dear,” Danny’s voice wavered. Carmilla pulled back to crush their lips together.

Carmilla allowed herself to get lost in Danny, forgetting the world around her and the troubles in her own mind momentarily. She paid dearly for it.

As her eyes slid shut, and Danny groaned above her, Carmilla saw flashes of fire behind her eyelids. A wicked laughter followed and she started breathing to calm herself down. Danny didn’t notice her subtle signs of distress and Carmilla opened her eyes to make the visions go away.

This didn’t work. Danny trailed kisses down her jawline and devoured Carmilla’s neck. Her new vantage point allowed Carmilla to see a tall figure standing absolutely still at the end of the bed. For a moment, she thought she was seeing double. She found herself thinking that Danny couldn’t possibly be both on top of her and standing there with her crossbow raised aiming at Carmilla’s heart through Danny herself. Body-swapping, sudden ice ages, and sentient fungi were normal for Silas University. Cloning was one of the few bastions of sanity remaining.

So Carmilla panicked, thinking that the Captain had somehow materialised out of her nightmares. The woman didn’t move or speak like she did in the depths of Carmilla’s sleep, instead she stood in tableau. Weapon ready and icy, calculating eyes glazed over in their menacing stare. Carmilla abandoned Danny’s hair and forcibly pushed her away to the other side of the bed. Danny cried out in surprise and just as quickly as the Captain had appeared, she was gone.

Danny stared at Carmilla, the frenzied panic in her eyes, her outstretched fingers almost morphing into claws, and the shaking of her entire body.

Carmilla’s eyes were blank for a moment.

Danny backed off to the edge of the bed. Carmilla did the same on her side, grateful yet again that she was physically incapable of blushing. “I’m fine, just-”

“Too much,” Danny finished, tugging at her askew shirt and fighting to keep her hair under control. “Too much, too fast.”

Carmilla sat up against the headboard, nervously tucking her hair behind her ears. “So, that happened.”

Danny snorted, “that it did.” She slid out of the bed and picked up her discarded sword. Throwing it in the middle of the bed between them, she sat on the bed and allowed Carmilla the time to be embarrassed. “I’ll take a couple of blankets and sleep on the chair,” Danny offered earnestly, her features set in steely determination.

Carmilla considered it. Felt horrible for doing so, but she considered it. She placed a hand experimentally on the sword lying on the bed. It didn’t jolt when she touch it, nor did another vision of the Captain appear behind her eyes. Carmilla leaned over to grasp the corner of the heavy blankets, dragging them back and inviting Danny back into the bed.

“I may kick you out again,” Carmilla warned, not making eye contact with Danny. “If you want to take that risk?”

Danny smiled indulgently, heavily restraining herself from rushing into the promise of warmth. She reached out and caressed Carmilla’s face, wiping away an errant tear from her cheek. “Babe, I’m fighting a fake war,” Danny explained, “’Risk’ is my middle name!”

Carmilla rolled her eyes while she checked her face for more tears. The crying thing was always annoying but she’d take it over the telling glow of blushing. She enjoyed teasing her girlfriends too much to wish the same torment on herself. “As the biggest target, between the three of us,” she hastily added, “Laura and I would rather ‘risk’ not be in your vocabulary, and absolutely not your middle name.”

“But, Danny ‘Risk’ Lawrence sounds awesome!” Danny bounced with her most encouraging expression plastered on. “I could send Laura grey in less than five years!”

Carmilla’s lips quirked upwards involuntarily. Danny thrust a fist in the air in triumph. “Shut up,” Carmilla responded devoid of malice. Danny’s goofy happy grin didn’t lessen.

“Seriously,” Danny said, composing herself. “If you think some bruised bones are going to stop me from being with you, clearly you’re suffering from some kind of concussion.”

Carmilla inspected her fingernails, feeling the tightening in her chest with emotions she couldn’t voice and the words she couldn’t say.

“Which is usually my job, so stop it,” Danny finished, poking Carmilla in the arm. That only made the jaws constricting her chest tighten.

“And how long do you suppose that can go on for?” Carmilla bit. “Throwing yourself in harms way to protect us?”

Danny frowned at her tone, her hands both went through her hair. Carmilla regretted saying it almost immediately.

“I meant-” Carmilla started to apologise.

“No, I know what you meant,” Danny cut in, reaching for Carmilla’s hand. She kissed the back of her hand tenderly. “As long as you’ll both have me.”

Carmilla stared at their joined hands like she’d never seen them before. Danny’s heart galloped along, matching pace with the vice grip around her chest. “I’m-”

“Worried,” Danny finished for her again. “I know.” She lifted their hands to point at something near Carmilla’s right eye. “You twitch when you’re worried.”

Carmilla smacked her hand, trying to keep herself serious. She didn’t take her own hand away from Danny’s though. “It’s not a sustainable life plan,” Carmilla threw back lamely. Danny’s eyebrows rose in amused disbelief.

“’Life plan’, you three hundred year old dork,” Danny mocked lightly, “I have an excellent life plan.”

Carmilla wasn’t fast enough to mask her shock at Danny’s words, her jaw dropping. She flung herself backwards onto the bed fully, still keeping her hand interlaced with Danny’s. She waved her free hand in a ‘go on’ gesture. Danny settled herself further into the bed, luxuriating in the limited warmth her body was already producing.

“First, wait around for you to finally actually finish college,” Danny started, idly stroking the back of Carmilla’s hand. Carmilla nodded her agreement, finding this first step to be reasonable. “Then we follow Laura wherever her journalistic ambitions take her.”

“And?”

“And I take over my parent’s publishing house while you laze around and be philosophical,” Danny concluded, grinning far wider than Carmilla felt she should have. “End of plans.”

“That’s not what I-”

“To answer the spirit of your question,” Danny continued on, again cutting Carmilla off. The vampire didn’t mind, she was close to hyperventilating anyway, so any respite was welcome. Danny allowed their conjoined hands to rest on top of the sword lying between them. “I will do whatever it takes to protect you.”

Danny said this plainly, and without room for argument.

“If you’ll have me, I will love you, take care of you, feed you,” Danny’s tone dropped suggestively, “and I promise to use my squishy little human life to protect you from whoever seeks to do you harm. And I don’t care if that means fighting your Mother, defending your honour to Laura’s father, or keeping my distance when you have nightmares. I’ll do it.”

Carmilla still couldn’t quite meet Danny’s eyes, afraid that the tears would start up again.

“Unless you tell me to stop, which is cool too,” Danny added. “We could make you a ‘Behaving Like A Parent’ sign to go with Laura’s, it’s very effective.”

Carmilla curled up, keeping her hand connected with Danny’s and closed her eyes.

“I’m yours forever, no matter what, dead girl,” Danny whispered.

The last thing Carmilla remembered of that night was Danny’s soothing voice re-telling a story about the time she and Perry accidentally started a vegan revolution during their freshman year.

It was nice.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the end of part two out of three!
> 
> Chapters will be longer after this point because masochism.


	10. The Challenge

Carmilla awoke to the smell of horses.

Which was several layers of weird. First, horses were outlawed by her Mother in Styria after their carriage-crash abduction tactic ended up with them both on fire and run out of the region for over twenty years. Second, exactly no one on the entire campus was brave enough to go against one of her Mother’s rules that didn’t seem to have a purpose to the general population of Silas University. Third, Carmilla was almost certain that Danny was mildly afraid of horses and if the now-worshiped Danny Lawrence didn’t like something, it wasn’t allowed anywhere near the Summer Society’s main sorority house and it definitely wasn’t coming to the Hunting Lodge where their Faculty Supervisor spent most of her time.

Therefore, the apocalypse was probably happening outside and Carmilla was missing out on all the fun.

Her phone flashed at her, displaying that she had five new messages, but she ignored it because there were horses and a potential end of the world scenario occurring just outside of her converted loft. Whatever whoever wanted to tell her, it could wait.

Observing the room for any discernible changes, Carmilla was discouraged by the only difference being that Danny was no longer in the room with her. Carmilla checked her phone and saw that it was several hours passed dawn and promptly figured that Danny was out playing war with Laura and Kirsch, rather than babysitting the vampire. Carmilla also noted that her sleep was completely undisturbed for the first time in two weeks.

Yes, the world was totally coming to an end. Carmilla let things get too good in her life, and the world decided to end as proper punishment.

She spiraled down this dark path for several minutes. Only to be abruptly dragged out of it by her name.

Like, her actual name. She focused on the source of the noise to ensure she hadn’t heard wrongly for the first time in over three hundred years.

“Mircalla?”

Nope, definitely her name. Spoken in a voice she didn’t recognise. All kinds of new and she’d only been awake for five minutes.

“Lady Karnstein?” Carmilla rolled out of the bed at the sound of approaching footsteps. She was unexpectedly proud of whichever new Summer Society girl was calling for her attention. Whoever it was, she had already managed to keep the narrative of Baronet Lawrence versus the evil Marquis de Hollis better than Danny and Laura managed thus far. Carmilla even considered being nice to the girl now knocking on the entrance hatch to the loft. When she didn’t just barge in after knocking like every other student at Silas University felt entitled to do, Carmilla officially decided to be kind to her.

She even addressed her by the proper title.

“Come in, random peasant,” Carmilla called back. Relatively kind, she was going to be relatively kind to the girl. The hatch opened slowly, revealing a girl who couldn’t have been much older than a freshman and whom Carmilla had absolutely never seen before. She was holding chunks of bread arranged on a platter with a selection of cheeses and a variety of fruits Carmilla knew instantly were grown in Styria. The girl also balanced a metal cup full of what smelled like fine red wine inside.

The weird kept on coming.

“Breakfast, Lady Karnstein. Apologies for the informality,” the girl said, keeping her eyes low and quickly hurrying over to place her tray on the table. Carmilla waved off her apology, not particularly caring, though wondering where the girl had learned her birth name. Then she remembered Laura’s initial investigations into her life and her past, and that explained that. However, didn’t quite cover why she was using it.

“Why did you call me ‘Mircalla’?” Carmilla questioned, unsettling herself with how easily she slipped back into the same voice she’d had when she was alive and an actual Countess.

The girl seemed more confused by this than Danny during her last tax return. Which Carmilla felt deserved some kind of medal.

“Is that not your name, Lady Karnstein?” The girl briefly panicked, as if Carmilla was going to launch herself across the room and murder her for any step out of line. “Ser Danny said that was your name, though she did also say you were fading in and out while she brought you here,” she rambled.

“’Ser Danny’?” Carmilla asked, smirking at the future teasing she would be doing to her poor girlfriend.

“The Baronet of these lands? Ser Danny Lawrence,” the girl tried to clarify who she meant. Carmilla narrowed her eyes, trying to intimidate the girl into cracking her commitment to the cover story. The girl did not crack, which earned her a second of Carmilla’s achievement medals she would be talking Perry into making with her. The woman could craft like no one Carmilla had ever met before, which for the three hundred year old vampire was really saying something.

“I know who Danny is,” she said slowly, torn between respecting the performance and getting annoyed with her apparent ignorance. “What I want to know is why either of you are calling me ‘Mircalla’. I haven’t gone by that name in over a hundred years,” Carmilla explained, trying to be as specific as possible to get a usable answer out of a member of a generally academically challenged sorority.

“What else would she call you?” The girl turned to leave, halting suddenly with one foot on the top rung of the ladder. “But the bounty the Marquis put on your head specifically says ‘Countess Mircalla Karnstein, vampire, approximately two hundred years old. Proceed with great caution’.”

Carmilla decided she didn’t like this girl’s commitment anymore, her birth name stinging more than she would have liked. “Where is ‘Ser Danny’?”

The girl tripped over her words, stuttering and stumbling in the way Carmilla knew to be implicit of stalling in those possessing a nervous disposition. She slowly advanced on the girl, knowing she probably wasn’t the most threatening in her over-sized jersey and her panties. The girl nearly fell down the ladder in surprise and alarm, as if Carmilla were the Devil coming to eat her soul and drag her down to Hell.

“Where,” Carmilla took a step forward, “is,” another step and the girl went so pale Carmilla thought she might be a vampire as well, “she?”

The girl squeaked weakly and pointed to the open window looking out over the front entrance of the Summer Society Hunting Lodge. Carmilla kept her attention fixated on the girl for several seconds longer, making sure she was answering her demand completely and without a hint of dishonesty. The girl dashed away as soon as Carmilla broke eye-contact, her heart charging along so fast Carmilla was mildly concerned for her health. If Danny was the unofficial mother to the Summer Society, Carmilla pictured herself as a dead-beat father figure and shut down that line of thought immediately. Too many feelings that she didn’t want to deal with at that moment.

The girl gently closed the hatch behind herself despite her clear fear when confronted with an actual vampire. Carmilla wondered if she would ever tire of the sense of superiority human fear gave her.

She inspected whatever the Summer Society decided was an appropriate breakfast for their vampire guest and found it lacking. Though providing wine with the most important meal of the day was a complete improvement on the previous day. Carmilla was mostly sure she could survive on a diet of human blood alone, but a nice wine every now and then made life interesting. She grabbed the goblet and sipped at it as she inspected whatever the girl was pointing at.

The sound of horses rapidly closing in on the Hunting Lodge was low on her list of expectations for the day, even though she could clearly smell horses at rest nearby. Horses on approach was a whole other thing, and foremost in her mind was the knowledge that the only person Carmilla knew of at Silas with the capability of riding a horse was Laura. If she was to pick anyone to go against her Mother’s rules, Laura Hollis, Marquis de Sade impersonator and all-around rule-breaker, would have been at the top of the list. Closely followed by LaFontaine and Danny Lawrence.

Which probably explained why there were horses nearby.

From what she could hear, there were only two horses, but with that many legs involved, listening in was inaccurate at the best of times.

Carmilla leaned partially out of the window, gazing down at Danny’s bright red mess of hair and thanking her girlfriend’s genetics for making her so perpetually identifiable. She was flanked by the Winter girl and Scarlett the Time-Travelling Sorority Girl on either side of her. They weren’t dressed in the usual Summer Society battle armour (which generally consisted of various sport-related safety equipment strapped to the correct area, sometimes) but had honest-to-Hephaestus chain-mail featuring a lot more leather than they were wearing that last time Carmilla saw either of them.

Danny had a bow slung over her shoulders and her ever-present sword hanging off her left hip. Other than that she was dressed alarmingly similar to the Captain. This discovery caused Carmilla to drop her precious wine directly out the window. It clattered against the steps leading to the Hunting Lodge’s entrance and rolled to a stop next to Scarlett’s feet. The noise drew all of their attention, turning almost in unison to catch Carmilla’s exceptionally guilty expression.

Winter rolled her eyes and turned back to where Carmilla presumed the sound of horses was coming from while Scarlett bent down to pick the goblet up. She gave it a mighty toss and it would have smacked Carmilla in the face if it weren’t for her enhanced reflexes. Danny meanwhile seemed to be biting the inside of her cheek as she looked upon Carmilla with what could only be described as infatuation.

Of all the things wrong with her morning, Danny’s shyness was what led Carmilla to settle on something being seriously wrong.

While she was hesitant with Laura on occasion, and was quickly shut down for being so, Danny Lawrence had not once been nervous when it came to how she felt about Carmilla. She found an annoying bluntness when it came to her vampire girlfriend and any deviation from this meant either one of two things.

Option One was that Danny was about to propose and was understandably nervous. This was unlikely in eight ways or more.

Option Two, however, seemed much more likely to Carmilla as it was that something was seriously wrong and some kind of cavalry needed to be called in.

Since Danny and Laura had apparently organised actual cavalry overnight, Carmilla allowed herself to focus on how exactly Danny managed to match the Captain’s outfit so exactly when Carmilla had never been more explicit that ‘silver-plated in some places’. It was not something that seemed probable for her to do unintentionally.

Hence the nerves.

Danny and her chosen lieutenants returned their attention to the oncoming cavalry. Carmilla did the same, curious as to what eerily familiar outfit Laura and probably Kirsch had changed into.

“Lady Mircalla!” Danny yelled up without taking her eyes off the trees. Carmilla decided to let her finish rather than argue over the name again. “I would rather you didn’t bear witness to this exchange!”

Carmilla raised both eyebrows but complied with ‘Ser Danny’ and her request. Then Scarlett decided to speak up.

“Or we could not do the exchange, and we might all survive,” Scarlett suggested. “Instead of all of us dying for a damned Hell beast!”

Carmilla officially had no clue what the hell was happening. The only negative thing she’d ever done to Scarlett was accuse her of being a time-traveller a few dozen times. She had nearly strangled Danny those two times and they were practically common law married at this point!

She slammed the window shut, annoyingly just as the horses arrived.

She started to eat the fruit Danny apparently decided Carmilla needed. Perhaps she was finally changing targets from Laura to Carmilla in her three-year strong campaign to make her girlfriends not have scurvy. Effective almost half the time, or your money back! Carmilla was yet to contract any sailor-like diseases or conditions so the three of them put that in the win column.

Six grapes later and Carmilla deeply missed her wine. Her day was not going how she planned it. It was going to start with waking up before Danny for only the ninth time in their entire relationship, and apologising for her own subconscious.

Then there were fucking horses. And the Jazz Age leftover wanted to freaking kill her.

Carmilla briefly considered that they were all suddenly extremely good at role-playing. Then discarded this thought, the horses were a bit much.

She actively blocked her ears and sang softly under her breath. Carmilla honestly didn’t want to know whatever the hell her girlfriends were exchanging. The ‘exchange’ took less than five minutes. Carmilla knew this because the front door to the Summer Society Hunting Lodge was nearly slammed off its hinges and no amount of singing to herself was ever going to block that out. She removed her hands from her ears and was treated to the sound of horses galloping away, Scarlett swearing bloody murder, and Danny’s familiar gait trudging slowly upwards through the Lodge.

Carmilla would never in her entire second life admit to using her superhuman speed to get dressed before Danny arrived in the loft. If she was going to go full on with the role-playing or if something else was going on, there was no way in a million years Carmilla was greeting her in her barely-there pyjamas.

Danny, by the sound of her footfalls up the ladder, had changed her boots from the motorcycle pair to something more antiquated. She actually stopped near the top and knocked. Carmilla stopped with one leg in her leather pants, jaw hanging open absolutely dumbstruck.

The last time Danny had knocked on a damn door was before they started dating, and she thought Laura and Carmilla were having sex on the other side of it.

“Uh, come in?” Carmilla managed to get out, promptly falling over as she hastily tried to stuff her leg into the hole. The hatch banged violently against the floor as Danny abruptly charged her way into the room. Carmilla didn’t have time to be alarmed at a fully-dressed younger Captain almost flying at her. All she saw was the familiar concern on Danny’s face and the roaring pain in her ankle that was now twisted inside one of her pant legs. “Yeah, definitely come in and see me like this.”

Danny immediately went bright red. She stood and turned away, carefully watching a spot on the wall opposite her. Carmilla took the opportunity to right her legs and stand back up. Danny fidgeted in place, clearly worried though struggling not to say anything. Carmilla supposed that she was generally the most coordinated member out of the three of them, and Danny tended to panic whenever something was bad enough to affect Carmilla negatively.

“Are you otherwise fine, Lady Mircalla?” Danny asked in an overly formal voice. Carmilla flinched at both the pain still radiating from her ankle and the use of her birth name. “I understand you had a problem with part of your morning meal.”

Carmilla glared at the back of Danny’s head, trying to singe it slightly. Oddly, she couldn’t. Carmilla then tried to set the cursed healthy food actually on fire, and found that she couldn’t do that either.

“Will you stop calling me that?” Carmilla kindly demanded, her attention drawn to her lack of powers. Danny’s head tilted, like a dog, Carmilla added to herself.

“That is your proper name and title, is it not?” Danny seemed genuinely lost. A state of being Carmilla knew for a fact Danny literally could not fake to save her life.

“I am ‘otherwise fine’, and that hasn’t been my name and title at the same time for over three hundred years!” Carmilla explained with more than a little frustration in her voice. Danny jumped at her tone. “What did you just exchange with Laura?”

At this, Danny turned back around. She took the longest possible route to Carmilla’s eyes, taking in the leather pants, the faux-corset Laura had packed and lingering for more than a full second on her lips. “Who is Laura?”

Carmilla blinked. “You don’t know who Laura is? That is what you’re going with?”

Danny, eyes wide, nodded.

“We nearly killed each other fighting over her, and you don’t remember?” Danny’s brow furrowed, and her dazed grin turned into a frown.

“Countess, we met two days ago and you’ve spent the entire time sleeping,” Danny explained slowly. Carmilla opened and closed her mouth several times.

“I am going to need a minute with that,” Carmilla whispered, strained and tight. Her phone vibrated as if reminding Carmilla of its existence. “I have not travelled back in time, good sign.”

“Is travelling around in time a sign you experience often?” Ser Danny asked with the utmost seriousness. Carmilla found it cute, and stopped herself to consider the moral implications. Was it cheating to find a Danny out of time cute?

“Maybe you’re out of time? I would have remembered you though,” Carmilla mused to herself, distracting herself from the mounting horror that as per usual something had gone horribly wrong at Silas. She was starting to wonder who would end up cloned, rather than if that was a possibility. “Especially if you were around while I was alive,” Carmilla added.

Ser Danny thought this over, wandering over to Carmilla’s abandoned breakfast. “I have never met you or the Marquis outside before this week, if that helps,” she threw out with a darkness crossing her face. She dispassionately ate the fruit, and gazed out the window behind Carmilla.

Carmilla changed tack, giving up on dealing with the pile of anachronisms sitting in her lap. “Scarlett’s problem is?”

Ser Danny blushed again, thankfully copying a normal, everyday Danny gesture and dragging a hand through her hair. She shifted uncomfortably and distracted herself by removing the bow from its hook. She placed it gently onto the table and sat down.

“Baronet Danny Boadicea Lawrence!” Carmilla grew tired of the stalling quickly, taking the longest strides her comparatively short legs were capable of while her bare feet made little threatening impact on the floor. “What the hell is her problem?” Carmilla stopped directly in front of Ser Danny and slapped both hands down on the table, glaring with her best vampire eyes.

“Well,” Ser Danny started slowly, drawing the word out while she considered how to proceed. Carmilla growled low, trading on Ser Danny’s apparent lack of experience with vampires. Carmilla found herself happy that she hadn’t brought up her sudden lack of fire starting abilities. She didn’t want to try any of her other powers. “Since once of us is having memory problems-”

“You are having memory problems,” Carmilla cut in insistently. Ser Danny spread her hands in submission.

“I am having memory problems,” Ser Danny agreed pleasantly. Carmilla took the empty seat at the table, placing her goblet on it and quickly mourning the loss of her wine.

“So you can tell me whatever you think happened over the last week,” Carmilla ended the disagreement. Danny smiled.

“One week ago, I was given a bounty set forth by the Marquis de Hollis,” Ser Danny started, staring down at her hands. “It was for a small fortune. All it said was that there was a vampire in Styria that the Marquis wanted to add to her collection.”

Carmilla startled. “’Collection’? Collection of what?”

Ser Danny went back to her bashful state. She tried to physically stall again, but Carmilla kept her eyes trained on her nervous body. Eventually Ser Danny had to concede.

“She’s, well known for her obsession,” Ser Danny put delicately. Carmilla leaned in with interest.

“Obsession is a very vague word, Red,” Carmilla responded automatically, ignoring the pang of loss that hit when Ser Danny didn’t immediately develop the usual besotted grin normal Danny did whenever Carmilla broke out the pet names.

“Stories go that she has a collection of vampire heads outside her manor, on pikes,” Ser Danny spat, disgust and anger flaring brightly on her face. “She’s barbaric and cruel.”

Carmilla tried to picture her Mother’s other children captured and killed by little Laura Hollis. She couldn’t, mostly because she wasn’t sure what exactly what happened to vampires when they died. For all she knew, they might just turn to dust. “She put a bounty out on me?”

“The Marquis is famous for her curiosity into your kind,” Ser Danny explained, her lips curling into a snarl. “Darker rumours swirl among the noble class that she performs experiments on the bounties she captures alive.”

Carmilla struggled to believe this. Though Laura had proved she could capture a vampire, that vampire was a moderately smitten Carmilla who didn’t try especially hard to get away. At the time, she didn’t think mowing through a bunch of frat boys and Danny would have gone down well with her tiny crush. “And she wants little, old me?”

“Lady Mircalla, or-?” Ser Danny’s confusion and instant guilt was adorable to Carmilla, despite her overly threatening appearance. “If not Mircalla then-?”

“Carmilla,” she introduced herself, offering a hand for the Baronet to shake. Ser Danny ignored the gesture and grasped her fingers delicately to gently lean down and kiss the back of her hand. Carmilla appreciated the gesture, though she maintained her point that Countess absolutely out-ranked a Baronet. “Not much of a Countess anymore I’m afraid.”

“The bounty does specifically say for the capture or corpse of the Countess Karnstein,” Ser Danny mentioned offhandedly. “Perhaps she’ll listen to reason?” Carmilla laughed. “Most people who keep heads on pikes are reasonable. She was agreeable to my terms though.”

Carmilla snapped her attention to that, “what terms?”

“Oh,” Ser Danny intoned. Her eyes went wide, and she went bright red again. “That.”

Carmilla put her head in her hands, groaning softly with the dawning realisation that the Baronet was probably going to be like original flavour Danny Lawrence. “What did you do?”

“She has more soldiers than I do,” Ser Danny started to defend whatever stupid decision she’d made without consulting Carmilla. “After I fought my way to the stake she was burning you at, I got an excellent view of all thirty of her remaining soldiers. All men as far as I could tell.”

“Danny!”

“She was going to kill you, then me, then my soldiers,” Ser Danny continued barely above a whisper. “The Marquis de Hollis is ruthless, she doesn’t rest until she gets what she wants.” She dragged her hands roughly through her hair. Carmilla missed the contact with whatever piece of antiquity had body-jacked her girlfriend’s body, and wondered to herself all over again if the attraction not going away was considered cheating.

“So you paid out the value of the bounty and the Marquis is leaving the area immediately so I can figure out what the hell is going on without one of my girlfriend’s actively trying to kill me?” Carmilla asked hopefully, causing Ser Danny to stare again. “What?”

She looked away, fussing with her quiver full of arrows. “I thought, well you implied that, we, I mean why else would you be here.”

Carmilla blinked, then she blinked again. Then she forced the laugh bubbling up her chest down so she didn’t ruin the currently good relationship she was developing with ‘Ser Danny’. “Because you’re cute, and Laura indulged your silly whims,” Carmilla tried to explain. The still-confused Ser Danny clearly didn’t get it. “Not important, what deal did you make with her?”

“She may lay siege to this outpost for one week,” Ser Danny explained confidently, settling into what was no doubt a practised military mindset. “If she cannot destroy us and if we cannot break her resolve, then I have struck an agreement with the Marquis that will prevent any unnecessary loss of life on either side.”

Carmilla already didn’t like where this was going. She braced herself for whatever idiocy her girlfriends’ alternate identities came up with between them.

“In one week,” Ser Danny started, finding the courage to meet Carmilla’s eyes, “I will duel the Marquis in armed combat to decide who, for lack of a better term, gets you.”

Carmilla let this settle in her mind, ignoring the immediate angry spike popping up at the idea of Danny and Laura participating in armed anything. She as so concerned with their collective safety that the possessive nature of their deal sailed right over her head. “Armed combat, what kind of armed combat?”

Carmilla asked with a sinking heart, she knew exactly what sort of deal they’d come up with, and rationally she knew that it was probably the best chance to prevent most of the loss of life that could possibly result from the current situation. There were a total of nearly forty-five lives and one vampire to consider. As much as Carmilla wanted Danny and Laura safe and healthy, she didn’t want the innocent bystanders consisting of the Summer Society girls and the Zeta frat boys to die because the three of them attracted an unreasonable amount of drama and supernatural phenomena.

Ser Danny set her shoulders, brave face firmly in place. “Swords, to the death. Winner decides what happens to you and loser’s soldiers are allowed to leave peacefully. It is a fair deal, considering we are out-numbered and do not have the supplies to last more than a few weeks anyway. The Marquis couldn’t know that, so I believe she is allowing this to happen because her men will not suffer through the cold for too long before the mutinous behaviours begin.”

“To the death?” Carmilla felt hope drain from her body. As if the novelty of the situation fell away, leaving only the reality of the mentality of years gone by. “You’re going to possibly die for a vampire you met last week?”

Ser Danny nodded gravely, determination shining through any fear she might have felt. “I promised to protect you, and I will do whatever it takes to keep that promise, even if it kills me.”

“She suggests a duel to the death and you just go along with it?”

“Absolutely.”

“Why would you agree to something like that?” Carmilla almost screamed at Ser Danny. The redhead seemed genuinely hurt by the implications of Carmilla’s words.

“You do not believe I can win?” Ser Danny demanded, rising to tower over Carmilla. The vampire did have to admit that the height advantage was intimidating even though she knew she could snap the Baronet in half if she really wanted to do so. “So little faith.”

“I don’t want either of you to win! A fight to the damn death means I can only have one of you, and you’re humans and so fragile and short already and I will not have you actively reducing the time I have with you both!”

Ser Danny did not look away ashamed like Carmilla thought she would. Regular Danny would have, knowing that she’d gone too far in her over-protective streak and trying to settle whatever stupid thing she’d done in her over-zealousness. No, Ser Danny thought she was right and didn’t have a Carmilla or a Laura there to tell her that she had reacted too eagerly and was stepping on what her girlfriend wanted.

“While this may be a game in your world, I assure it isn’t one in mine,” she seethed, her breathing even in cold fury. Camilla was reminded of the Captain, and shuddered at the comparison. “The Marquis is more than ready to kill you and I know for a fact she is capable of it. She has killed your kind before and will not hesitate to do it again. I am trying to keep at least one of us alive for as long as possible.”

“If she’s so terrifying, then why would you ever think you could win against her?” Carmilla tried to reason with her.

“Prophecy is a skill much-revered in my world, and it is unspeakably accurate, if I fight the Marquis with this sword,” she lifted the sword Danny found in the Library, “then I cannot lose against her.”

Carmilla believed her. It didn’t make sense, but she believed every word the Baronet said. She was a vampire, and almost everyone she knew had been hijacked by some kind of magic. If the magic persona was telling her that Ser Danny would win if she fought with a specific weapon, then Carmilla was inclined to believe that this was a part of whatever was going on. It would be unwise not to agree and allow events to happen however the magic intended them to play out. Magic was known to throw a tantrum whenever someone got in the way of its perfect planning.

“While I’m not for you two killing each other, it’s probably part of whatever is going on, so I’m not going to make you back out of the challenge,” Carmilla capitulated. She felt it was the right course of action, allow the magic to think she was idly going along with its plans.

She had to figure out what happened, and for that she needed the help of the only people she could trust that weren’t affected by the magic.

Carmilla unlocked her phone. She needed to talk to Perry and LaFontaine.

 

 


	11. The Marquis de Hollis

Carmilla stared at her phone, amazed by all seven of the messages waiting for her. She wasn’t by any means an unpopular student at Silas University, a vampire with two girlfriends and most of her life story live on the school’s network tended to have her admirers, yet whenever she was reminded of the actual friends she had, Carmilla always had a moment of disbelief. Lovers, enemies, vampire siblings she’d had hundreds of over the centuries, but friends were new.

Friends that cared enough to keep her in the loop about things they felt she’d be interested were so far beyond new, Carmilla compared it to humanity finding a way to live on the moon.

She had seven new text messages awaiting her when she checked her phone. Unlocking it, she found that six of them were from LaFontaine while the other one was from Perry. She also had over fifty emails, all from J.P, filled with whatever information he’d found this week to help his friends out via his extensive resources. They’d been alerted to no less than twenty different supernatural disturbances over the years by the man stuck in the Library systems, and Carmilla had developed a decent rapport with him over their mutual first-hand historical experiences.

Carmilla decided to check the message from Perry first, as she was the one actually still on the Silas campus, rather than the returning in less than a week LaFontaine.

‘People are complaining, they can’t get into the woods.’ Carmilla strode over to the window, ignoring Ser Danny and her confusion about the device her vampire charge was holding. She strained her eyes to see the Silas University main campus, but everything passed the edges of the woodlands was blurred and faded, like she was looking at it through frosted glass. Carmilla sent Perry the usual standard format crisis message, knowing that the post-graduate student would appreciate a succinct description of what was going on and a place to start researching how to make it stop.

The other six messages were LaFontaine complaining about their trip. Carmilla rolled her eyes. She told LaFontaine that they wouldn’t enjoy the wilderness experience, although they did seem to have access to electricity, so it couldn’t have possibly been that bad. The final message from LaFontaine simply told her to talk to J.P as soon as possible.

“What is that thing?” Ser Danny asked in wonderment behind her. The Baronet had walked all the way across the room without Carmilla noticing, an achievement regular Danny never managed. “How is it glowing like that?”

Carmilla gave the light hanging from the ceiling a pointed look, wondering how powerful the magic could have possibly been. “It’s a communication device,” she answered simply. She wasn’t sure what level of technology the Baronet was used to, so best to stick with the broad strokes approach to explaining things. “I’m asking some of our friends unaffected by all this for help in making it stop.”

“Oh, do you deal with this kind of curse often?” Ser Danny probed further, staring at the phone with interest. Like she wanted to take it apart and put it back together again after she prised all of its secrets out.

“Not exactly,” Carmilla hedged, reading the first of J.P’s many messages. He felt the need to send them to her because LaFontaine wasn’t on campus, Perry refused to acknowledge him as a person, and Laura and Danny’s phones were both bouncing back all of his attempts to talk to them. J.P expressed his most urgent concern for their collective well-being and Carmilla soothed some of it by informing him that both Laura and Danny were at the very least still alive. Although they might not be that way for much longer.

“You adapted to modern technology despite not needing any of it?” Ser Danny’s looming form stood a respectful distance away, Carmilla noted and was inordinately pleased by a version of her girlfriend who could understand a non-verbal cue. “I thought vampires sequestered themselves away from human society, only leaving the safety of their castles to feed off the local population,” she said with a teasing smile.

“Says the woman with a bow and arrows,” Carmilla argues, not as maturely as she would have preferred. “It’s at least the seventeenth century for you, get a crossbow!” An image of the Captain, crossbow raised, ready to strike a killing blow into Carmilla’s heart raced across her vision. “On second thought, no crossbow, not ever.”

Ser Danny took this in stride, not stopping to question her sudden change of heart, no argument for her bow being the superior weapon. It was actually quite refreshing.

“Does this mean you’re done yelling at me for trying to protect you?” Ser Danny lost her grin, and shifted her weight from one foot to the other. Carmilla warmly smiled, or she tried to, results tended to vary.

“You were trying to protect the girls, I can take care of myself,” Carmilla soothed, adding her own capabilities to Ser Danny’s picture of the vampire. “I’m not a damsel in distress. Vampires are feared by sane people worldwide for good reason,” she said, feeling like she was boasting but knowing that this was information the Baronet needed if she was going to mount a defence against the Marquis and her many men. Carmilla agreed with Ser Danny in that the Summer Society girls didn’t deserve putting their lives on the line for a dispute Laura, Danny, and Carmilla were involved in.

“The Marquis has a poison that affects vampires. I have no doubt in your ability to defend yourself, but poison is an enemy that attacks regardless of your resistance,” Ser Danny explained. Carmilla’s eyebrows shot up as her eyes widened. In her entire afterlife, Carmilla never heard of anything that could poison a vampire. She even got low one year and fed off a newly deceased plague victim, to absolutely no negative consequences beyond a truly rotten taste. “I don’t believe her charges against you are valid, so I won’t let her execute you for no just reason.”

“What am I charged with?” Carmilla genuinely wanted to know what crimes the Library or whoever was doing this to them felt she had committed. “Being taller than her?”

Ser Danny laughed gently. “No, though very few are brave enough to bring up her less than impressive stature. She claims you killed a cousin of hers or something like that,” Ser Danny paused to shake her head free of its confusion. “The charge is different from town to town, in one you’re accused of mass chicken murder, another the uh,” she stopped again to blush brightly.

“’Uh’?” Carmilla prompted, leaning against the wall next to the window, aware that if Ser Danny had a bow then the Marquis absolutely would be raining hell upon them, and probably soon.

“Corrupting the daughters of the local nobility,” Ser Danny squeaked, turning her head away and shifting her weight again. In doing this, she missed Carmilla’s devious smirk.

“Like, turning them into vampires?” Carmilla goaded, remembering the adorable actual blushing virgin she started dating. She would revel in telling Laura about this when they fixed the ‘curse’.

“No, not that.” The blush spread to her neck.

“Turning them away from Jesus?” The Baronet stomped her foot in frustration. “Not that either.”

“You know what I mean,” Ser Danny hissed. Carmilla allowed herself to laugh. “And you are a mean vampire.”

“How many daughters have accused me of impropriety? I will inform them that I am really, super taken,” Carmilla said while ignoring the stab in her heart at the mention of her girlfriends. “How dare the Marquis slander my honour like this!”

Ser Danny giggled slightly at Carmilla’s over-reaction. “Another claims that you have no soul, and therefore do not deserve to masquerade as a person,” she listed, “and yet another that we’ve found accuses you of sexual relations with the Devil himself.”

Carmilla’s eyes narrowed. “You can say that fine, but my supposed,” she waved a hand in the air while looking for the right word, “deflowering of upper class girls you can’t spit out?” The just-disappearing blush re-emerged on Ser Danny’s face and Carmilla was starting to worry about any health risks associated with that much increased blood flow.

“That is not important,” Ser Danny deflected. “What is important is that your friends might be able to figure out what has caused this.”

Carmilla let her have the reprieve. “They have a better chance than we do in here.”

“I should go, I shouldn’t have come up here at all,” Ser Danny admitted suddenly. Carmilla nearly got whiplash from how quickly her head snapped to the taller woman. “It’s not proper, Countess.”

The relaxed atmosphere evaporated, replaced by the rigid propriety of her youth. Carmilla hated it, wanted Ser Danny to stay, wanted something, someone familiar in the confusion. She wanted Danny back, fatalistic view of their relationship and all and she wanted Laura there with her to hold and to keep her going towards finding answers and the truth.

Ser Danny bowed low, and Carmilla did nothing to stop her from leaving. The Baronet left.

Carmilla was left alone. Something she didn’t think she would be forced into experiencing ever again.

It was cold. Isolation made the room seem smaller and her problems bigger.

She threw the window back open, hoping that fresh air would dispel the sudden crushing around her lungs. Carmilla spent much of the free time she had before Ell and her punishment underwater. She knew the real and present weight that water carried and the tremendous pressure it could exert. That was what her loneliness felt like. It’s how she stayed sane during her imprisonment. Long years of imagining showing Ell the world underneath the surface of the water. Down where it was crushing and darkness reigned over the light.

Her phone vibrated in her hand, pulling her from her pleasant memories underwater. She unlocked it, and saw that J.P messaged her. Again.

He detailed his many theories about the sudden ring around the woodlands, its origins, what they could do to make it go away, why he couldn’t connect to Laura or Danny. If they were okay, was Carmilla okay? Could he be doing more?

Carmilla genuinely like the guy. Trapped inside the Library systems or not, he looked after them all, even taking over for LaFontaine when they couldn’t explain their feelings and identity to Perry anymore, the emotional toll proving to be too much.

She forwarded her informational message originally sent to Perry, and added that she needed any information he could find about vampires being poisoned. That detail more than anything else the Baronet had told her was worrying. She felt fairly confident in her ability to intervene with the fight to the death her girlfriends were insisting on, but were the Marquis to actually have a poison that would work on her, Carmilla figured her power might not count for as much as it usually did.

Then there was the problem of her fire-starting ability refusing to work. Just when she convinced herself premonition was a newly developing perk to her afterlife, the universe had to punish her. Because of course it did.

Thinking it over and debating with herself for a few moments, Carmilla added both of those details to the open chat she had going with J.P. The more details he knew, the better chance she had of getting to the bottom of the current mystery.

She also pulled Perry’s message window back up and asked if it was cheating to like the Baronet version of Danny. Carmilla didn’t trust anyone else to make a sound moral judgment while simultaneously keeping her confidence.

Her phone vibrated again. J.P.

‘Forgive the intrusion into your privacy, Carmilla. What is the last thing you remember before the so-called curse was begun?’ Great, they were going with ‘curse’ for whatever was going on, Carmilla felt this added a vindictive slant to what could just be an experiment gone wrong.

She typed out a rough outline of finally winning the fight against her recurring nightmares and the joy of sharing a bed with Danny after a week. Carmilla sent the message off, knowing that J.P’s circuits would be glowing with embarrassment but not finding the effort within herself to care.

Carmilla decided that she’d had more than enough drama for one day. Then an arrow smashed through one of the other windows, neatly landing in the direct middle of Laura’s yellow pillow. It had a note attached to it, but Carmilla could only see the injury brought down upon her now one remaining tangible link to Laura.

She restrained the urge to go out and murder the Marquis based on this slight alone. Rationally, she told herself, killing the Marquis equalled killing Laura as well. This kept her relatively calm though inside a vicious hurricane of hurt and fury roared and grew as she moved to inspect whatever message the Marquis felt was worth murdering Carmilla’s pillow. Laura’s, Laura’s pillow, she reminded herself.

The note was written on what Carmilla recognised to be handmade paper and was secured to the shaft of the arrow with twine rather than string. She curled a hand around the arrow while placing a bracing hand on the poor murder victim, crying out with pain as her hand brushed near the arrowhead.

Carmilla jumped backwards and promptly went tumbling down the ladder and onto the hardwood floor below. She had ripped the note in two, and cautiously approached the bed again, now fully aware of the Marquis’ vampire hunting credentials. Most people, especially when Carmilla was still Mircalla, presumed that silver was how you destroyed a werewolf. It might have been, Carmilla had never met one before, but it was absolutely one of the few ways to fight off a vampire. That arrowhead had to be made of silver.

Silver was through the middle of her, Laura’s yellow pillow, making it useless and dangerous for Carmilla to even touch it, let alone rest her head to sleep.

Fury flared inside her chest. She growled. She hissed, and then cradled her steaming hand. The silver had scratched her as she whipped away in pain. The wound wasn’t deep, nor was it long. It burned, more than a thousand fires it burned.

Carmilla growled again, this time in frustration. She couldn’t read Laura’s illegible writing any better now than normal. The Marquis was clearly also home schooled by a former combat medic. Lousy, hurried mess of writing and all. She stuffed the half she could touch into her back pocket and glared at the arrow still sticking out of the pillow at an angle.

Situations like these were when Carmilla didn’t enjoy being a vampire. Only then. She was a sick girl, who wasn’t going to live much longer anyway. Mother had done her a favour, despite the murder. Carmilla, and indeed Mircalla, viewed the killing as a mercy to a dying child, rather than the cold blooded affair her rational mind knew it to be.

If Mother wasn’t such an active threat to Laura, Danny, and the genuine friends she’d made at Silas, Carmilla would miss her.

Mother would probably know what the hell had happened. She wouldn’t tell Carmilla and it would have been her doing, but she still would have known. Now when something weird like this happened, Carmilla was the expert. The one everyone looked to for answers, the experienced adult.

Carmilla hated that thought, though she paradoxically loved the feeling of being needed by those around her.

The burning in her hand subsided, taking with it her latent rage at Laur-the Marquis. Ser Danny would be able to read the Marquis’ handwriting. Normal Danny could, so Carmilla took an educated guess.

She got most of the way to the ladder before she spotted the two flaws in her plan.

Firstly, she would have to take the arrow out of its resting place, which she couldn’t do without burning herself. Then she would have to get over her seething hatred over her murdered pillow long enough to care what Laura had to say for herself. That wasn’t happening anytime soon.

Second, at least one of the Summer Society girls was against bothering with saving her life in their new identities. Carmilla had no way of knowing how many other soldiers loyal to the Baronet were on board with laying down their lives for her own. Scarlett could have allies waiting to capture her and hand her over to the Marquis without another thought on the subject. Though Ser Danny and indeed normal Danny were easily the best fighter in the group, three or more against one wasn’t a fight she could possibly win.

Carmilla sighed heavily, and sat down to start the arduous process of translating Laura’s handwriting herself.

It ended up taking the remaining hours of the morning but Carmilla thought she had the gist of the note figured out. The Marquis had her best marksman shoot the arrow into her room specifically. She hoped he would hit the vampire and no human life would have to be lost, but that plan didn’t work. Carmilla manoeuvred herself so she was sitting directly underneath the window and safely out of any other silver projectiles the Marquis had at her disposal.

At the end of the hastily scrawled note, there was an offer.

Carmilla’s life in exchange for Danny’s.

The note even said that this offer would remain valid until the Marquis and the Baronet faced off at the end of the week-long grace period. Carmilla decided that Ser Danny didn’t need to know about the note, not if she was going to be like regular Danny. Carmilla knew Danny, knew the woman who had promised to die for her and Laura less than a day ago. Danny, not matter who she thought she was or even if she couldn’t remember anything at all, would not let Carmilla make the same sacrifice. Danny wouldn’t rest until she knew Carmilla was safe, even if that meant going against Carmilla’s clearly stated wishes.

Danny normally wouldn’t attempt to override a decision about themselves Laura or Carmilla made, she’d almost lost them both in the past because of her natural protective instinct. The Baronet wasn’t regular Danny, she would tie Carmilla up if she had to, if only to keep her safe from the world. Carmilla considered burning her half of the note, but decided that she shouldn’t push her luck on the open flames front.

Which left the troubling concern of the arrow itself. Was she safe in the attic?

Obviously not. Were she still asleep, she would have a silver arrow driven into her brain and would already be dead. Upside, her dying would break the curse and both of her girlfriends would get to live out their mortal lives. Carmilla shook herself free of this notion, imagining the barrage of disappointed yelling that both Danny and Laura would rain down upon her head for considering leaving them.

The last thing they needed was another death-seeker hero.

Carmilla did give the curse some credit. Giving the Baronet a prophecy telling her that she would win if she fought with a weapon she already had in her possession. It sounded too good to be true and entirely too easy. Carmilla didn’t trust it for a second. Prophecies never seemed to work out how you’d expect.

She needed to know what the Marquis was thinking. Most of her supernatural powers were no longer working, but hopefully her ears were still as keen as ever. She heard some kind of yelling she figured to be the Marquis off in the distance.

Carmilla hung most of her upper body out of the window in an attempt to hear whatever the Marquis was shouting better. She regretted it almost immediately, it brought back painful memories of Laura’s initial investigation into the disappearing girls and her Mother. The Marquis was rousing her men into an frothy rage at the thought of the cruel and demonic vampire. She pushed all of the angles her wanted posters covered. Carmilla understood that the Marquis wasn’t being inconsistent with her criminal charges aimed at the vampire, she was just picking the right crime for the right audience. Accuse her of promiscuity and lustful perversion of young women to the nobility while pushing the mass-killings of animals the blood-sucker obviously committed to the local peasants, farmers mostly.

The Marquis presented herself as worried for the very souls of the Summer Society girls, claiming that their leader, the Baronet Danny Lawrence, had already been corrupted by the carnal pleasures the vampire woman provided. Seduced and taken, the Baronet couldn’t possibly be saved from the same Hell awaiting the vampire herself. Carmilla gave her points for justifying why she would ever agree to fighting Ser Danny rather than trying to save her from Carmilla herself.

Crying religious saviour was a historical tactic that Carmilla could respect. Mostly because more often than not, it worked.

She cast a nervous glance to her phone, J.P should have gotten back to her by now and she felt the prickle of worry beginning to form.

The Marquis continued on and on. Jezebel this, and harlot that. Carmilla wanted to print out the more risque pictures she had saved of Laura and send them to the Marquis. If only to get her to shift her focus to something else. Carmilla had been called a whore entirely too much for it to hurt anymore, however it did get boring after the first few thousand. Some creativity wouldn’t kill them.

Despite Carmilla’s silent complaints, the Marquis continued her ranting. The men around her cheered, the believed every word. There were dozens of young men awaiting the twelve Summer Society girls if they dared to venture out into woodlands. Every one of them had volunteered when Kirsch agreed to help Danny and Perry with their plan. Now instead of helping Carmilla fight through her fears while playing at war, they wanted to kill her. Allow their leader to torture her, experiment on her, keep her head outside on a pike to warn off other vampires who would dare cross her.

She finally had friends, actual friends. All the work she put into maintaining her friendships, even the ones independent of her girlfriends, was summarily snuffed out by a curse. While they were trying to help her.

Carmilla shut the window softly. She couldn’t listen to Laura’s voice spewing hatred against her anymore. There was a difference between rationally knowing that it wasn’t Laura speaking, and getting her heart to ignore the vicious words.

It stung no matter what she told herself. Old wounds that she knew were healed over. Words that would have been more familiar coming out of Danny’s mouth, they would have hurt less too. Carmilla was again a monster in Laura’s eyes, and probably not much better in Danny’s. She could pinpoint exactly why the Baronet had saved her.

It was for her own honour and her own moral compass. The Baronet didn’t believe Carmilla was guilty of the crimes the Marquis claimed she was, her saviour act was a direct result of her sense of justice. It had nothing to do with Carmilla. The Baronet would have done it regardless of who was being burned, impersonal and most likely not as accepting of her nature as the real Danny was.

Or exactly as accepting of Carmilla as the real Danny had been. When they viewed each other as the competition. Carmilla smiled at the irony. The woman who tried to kill her over Laura was now willing to die defending her from Laura. She’d be flattered if it wasn’t for the dying bit.

She resolved to bring her concerns regarding her accommodation with the Baronet. Along with asking for an honest assessment of how willing her troops were, Carmilla settled into Danny’s chair to relax.

Restlessness refused to allow her the pleasure of relaxation. Her legs bounced and she couldn’t keep her hands to remain still. Carmilla had experienced many things in her long life, a restless body was new.

Carmilla stared at the shattered window, allowing herself to hope for another volley to come fling through. Anything to end the silence coming from the woods. The Hunting Lodge was alive with young women running around inside it, making enough food to feed twelve hungry young mouths and keeping said twelve people from killing each other before the Marquis had the chance.

She was also starting to worry about the lack of alarm caused by the window breaking. Though Carmilla wouldn’t be shocked if Ser Danny and the Summer Society girls were too busy fighting with each other to notice.

Carmilla cast around listlessly, ignoring the bickering below her in favour of sneaking back over to the window. At least the Marquis was actually doing something, the Baronet seemed to be happy defending herself and her soldiers with no thoughts towards a counter-attack. Carmilla would have to talk to her about that eventually. They wouldn’t survive against the Marquis’ no doubt imminent attack for too long. Carmilla kept herself as low as she could without crawling, she really didn’t like the idea of dying via stray arrow. The humiliation would haunt her for eternity.

She flattened herself against the wall. Taking several deep and bracing breaths, she slowly rose just high enough so she could see the ground below her and the tree line just beyond it.

All was quiet. No horses galloping around in a testing charge, no soldiers clashing violently. Carmilla rolled her eyes at the hesitant nature of the Baronet and the Marquis’ suspiciously silent morning. Given her luck over the last week, Carmilla figured that the Marquis was currently sneaking around the back of the Hunting Lodge to set it on fire and burn everyone inside to a crisp. It was within the realm of possibility that the Marquis’ various merciful offers were all a smokescreen to convince both Ser Danny and Carmilla herself that they were safe for the week.

Despite the walls around her, Carmilla couldn’t help the exposed feeling from creeping up the back of her neck.

She caught sight of movement among the trees, birds fleeing and a random deer running towards the Hunting Lodge. Carmilla scoffed at the deer, sure that every animal in the woods surrounding Silas would know not to go anywhere near the Summer Society Hunting Lodge lest they be hunted down by the pack of young women it contained.

The Marquis strode slowly into the clearing around the Hunting Lodge. She seemed entirely unconcerned about Ser Danny or one of the Summer Society girls taking a shot at her, the tiny woman didn’t even seem to be wearing armour of any kind. Carmilla respected her confidence, but really wanted Ser Danny to at least take out a leg or something else non-fatal. Anything to stop the Marquis from winning the duel. Carmilla believed that Ser Danny would keep her word and allow the Marquis’ men to leave unharmed if she won, she did not hold the same belief in the Marquis to allow the Summer Society soldiers leave after she defeated Ser Danny and captured Carmilla.

The Marquis, stealing Laura’s tiny body and her cute face, stared up at the window she had shattered with her gracious offer. Her eyes locked with Carmilla’s, and she was back in Laura’s freshman year, only colder and with a twinge of cruelty. The suspicion was back and the Marquis had only met Carmilla once, she searched out the vampire’s face insatiable curiosity plain and clear as she stared. Carmilla hated it, but maybe the curse hadn’t fully taken over Laura and Danny.

Maybe it just amplified what was already there. Then transported it back a few centuries.

Danny had been the one to decide that Carmilla needed saving from her own mind. She kept her more attentive mindset, giving Carmilla every opportunity to back out of the plan. Laura kept her tied to a chair for nine days, so Carmilla could see where the curse was coming from in regards to the casting.

Experimentation was swimming against the tide of morality when the subjects were unwilling and overzealous heroism was significantly easier to spin as a positive trait.

The Marquis stared up at the vampire, her lips curled into a cruel smirk. There was a hint of disappointment in her gaze, she now had confirmation that her shot into the house had not hit Carmilla. Carmilla stood up and walked away from the window.

She would not give the Marquis the satisfaction of seeing how much her presence rattled the vampire. Carmilla doubted that she needed any more confirmation of her superior positioning.

Carmilla steadied herself and braced for the hostilities of the Summer Society as she left her attic for the first time in two days.

Her first impression was that the Lodge smelled different.

Gone were the pictures of past graduates lovingly framed. In there place were racks and racks of weapons, along with the occasional stuffed animal head. The Summer Society underneath the Baronet was apparently significantly better at and more adventurous with their hunting exploits. Normal Danny would never have let the girls kill a tiger and keep its pelt as a rug.

The lunch argument had been settled and Carmilla zeroed in on Ser Danny’s pacing footsteps. She had retreated to her basement apartment. Carmilla used her superior hearing to avoid three different Summer Society girls as she descended through the Lodge.

Scarlett complained to anyone who would listen that they had no business saving a creature when there were people being attacked in the streets and the higher nobility were taxing the local populations into absolute poverty. Weirdly, Carmilla agreed with her. It warmed her heart that Danny would protect her no matter what the circumstances, but she shouldn’t have dragged the girls into what was an affair between Carmilla and her girlfriends. The constant slurs hurled her way, however, Carmilla could have gone the whole rest of her afterlife without hearing. Scarlett’s spitting of terminology Carmilla thought went out of style at the same time as the witch burnings reminded the vampire that she wasn’t like them, that she would never be like them. They would never all accept her for what she was and probably only tolerated her presence because both versions of Danny forced them to do so.

“Shut up, soldier! If you don’t like it, you are free to leave! No one is holding you here,” the current leader of the Summer Society cut off Scarlett’s ranting. Winter, though Carmilla didn’t know which of her names that was or if she even had another, shut down Scarlett in seconds. Carmilla liked the girl, and felt that she was a worthy replacement for Danny after graduation. She was one of the few people on campus who took vampires, sentient indexes, and whatever other weird non-human Silas could throw at them as individuals rather than a strict good and evil divide between species.

“There are people who deserve our help-” Scarlett hissed.

“And the Countess is one of them,” Winter cut her off. “If you disagree, the Marquis is always looking for more bodies,” Winter seethed. Carmilla left them to it, not wanting to be around when they eventually turned to bare-knuckle fighting to solve their differences. Even out of time, Carmilla was certain that the Summer Society would eventually give up on words and debating.

She ventured deeper into the house, waiting for several minutes crouched next to the back door while waiting for one of the freshman girls to vacate the kitchen. When she was gone, Carmilla slowly edged her way around the kitchen counters to gently knock on the door to the basement.

Ser Danny stopped her pacing, and softly called, “come in.”

Carmilla eased the door open and then closed. Ser Danny seemed to sense that it wasn’t one of her soldiers coming down the stairs, and rushed to her bed to put her coat back on over her tank top. Carmilla didn’t mention that she’d already seen pretty much everything the Baronet had going on underneath her clothes. The light blush of embarrassment at being caught relatively undressed was far too cute to banish with a cruel comment.

“Lady Carmilla,” she struggled to get out, wrapping the coat tightly around herself, “what can I do for you?”

“You can let me move in down here with you.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On tumblr and pretty much everything else as kenfaidar, come annoy me if you think it's taking too much or too little time to update.
> 
> Place your bets! Laura or Danny?


	12. The Escape

The Baronet didn’t respond. She remained silent for so long that the humiliation Carmilla felt could have driven her out into the clutches of the Marquis. Anything to get away from her usual awkwardness when asking for things. Ser Danny blinked heavily, like she had been on another planet inside her mind, and shook herself free of whatever she was imagining.

“Of course, Countess,” Ser Danny said eventually. Carmilla let out a breath she didn’t need to take in but desperately needed to expel. “Allow me the rest of the daylight hours to re-locate myself and my room is yours,” she offered with a shy hint of a smile. Carmilla wanted to bash her own head into the wall with frustration. The curse had nothing to do with Danny and Laura and was just using them as vessels to annoy Carmilla to death.

“I said ‘with you’, idiot, with,” she clarified, only moderately agitated but willing to get much worse if the Baronet provoked her again. Ser Danny went her brightest red yet, as if her face was challenging her hair to a duel at dawn. Carmilla wished for a camera, if for no other reason than future blackmailing opportunities. “I feel that the attic with windows everywhere is not a safe place for someone so easily killed by silver-tipped arrows, and I would be more secure staying down here.”

Ser Danny opened her mouth to argue again.

“I understand that you have a detailed list of things you shouldn’t do around me, but sweetie I’ve seen you naked. Any class or rank issues you have are going to have to take a long hike,” ranted Carmilla, putting her big Countess Karnstein voice on and remembering what it was like to have actual Knights and Barons kneel before her in the same deference she was now arguing against. Ser Danny went impossibly redder, and Carmilla could see the thin sheen of Danny’s extremely nervous forehead sweat starting to form. Carmilla sighed, knowing she’d pushed too far, too fast.

“I won’t go against your wishes, Lady Carmilla,” she promised bravely, containing her nervousness with great mental exertion. She refused to meet Carmilla’s eyes and the vampire attempted to mount a defence against the adorable nature of a fully submissive Danny Lawrence.

She failed. Horribly

Carmilla brought a fist up to her mouth to hide her grin. Ser Danny shifted underneath the perceived scrutiny and tugged at her hair with long fingers curling tightly at the end of their passes through miles of gorgeous hair. This more than anything sobered Carmilla up immediately, banishing some of the humour in the situation by reminding her that this wasn’t Danny, no matter how closely she resembled her.

“I can sleep on the floor, or in a chair,” Carmilla suggested in an attempt to soften her demand without abandoning it all together, “I can curl up pretty much anywhere.”

“Like a cat?” Ser Danny replied hopefully, her demeanour brightening with measurable strides. Carmilla resisted the urge to remind Danny that they weren’t making animal jokes anymore, and was cut down mid-thought by again remembering that this wasn’t Danny she was dealing with. The hurt wasn’t so bad, Ser Danny wasn’t anything less than her Danny playing period dress-ups extremely well, though she stopped that rationalisation as it tried to turn towards Laura ‘Walking Sadism Joke’ Hollis and her new attitudes.

“Yes, exactly like a cat,” Carmilla acquiesced. She put aside her pride for a few minutes. “So, can I stay?” Carmilla asked again, putting on her best helpless damsel face, it worked on regular Danny more often than not, so it was worth a shot on Ser Danny.

“As you wish, Countess,” Ser Danny stated bravely, squaring her shoulders against any impropriety or harm she was committing in allowing Carmilla inside her bedroom. “I drew poorly with the watch assignments today, so I won’t be back until well after you’ve fallen asleep.”

Carmilla took in the Baronet’s light clothing and wanted to slap her silly. “If you’re planning to go outside at night, you should put some more clothes on,” Carmilla suggested in a way she hoped was light and pleasant. It was already a real possible threat that Danny might die during the duel, and Carmilla didn’t want her to freeze to death before then. A duel to the death Carmilla could intervene easily if it looked like one of her girlfriends were going to win. Ser Danny going out into the frozen nights in Styria and catching her death on icy winds Carmilla couldn’t go out and protect her from did nothing but frustrate the vampire.

“The cold doesn’t bother me, Lady Carmilla, though thank you for the concern,” the Baronet stated with a faint dusting of red appearing upon her cheeks. Carmilla called bullshit immediately, she’d actually seen Danny Lawrence out in freezing cold conditions and ‘not bothered by it’ was not the impression the vampire got. However, arguing with Danny over matters concerning her own health tended to get very useless, very fast. Carmilla tried a difference approach, one better suited to her current circumstances.

“Perhaps it doesn’t, however I would be comforted in the knowledge that you’re safe from the elements while putting yourself in danger for me,” Carmilla said sweetly, putting every piece of damsel in distress she could find into her words. “I don’t think I could sleep knowing you were out there so under-dressed,” she added. Carmilla felt that she was going a little far with her helpless upper-class twit routine, though dispelled this notion as Ser Danny seemed to agree and went to her drawers to find more weather-appropriate clothing.

Carmilla chalked that as a win, and left the Baronet to get changed. She didn’t want to be around to cause even more discomfort for the poor woman.

Carmilla occupied herself with sneaking back up into her former bedroom. She would definitely be happier to stay up there when the threat of death by arrow wasn’t an issue anymore. Danny and the Summer Society had done an excellent job of remodelling the attic and it was a shame that Carmilla couldn’t enjoy it for more than two days without someone nearly killing her.

She got to the base of the ladder leading up to the attic and noted with mild alarm, that the hatch she was certain she had closed behind her was now flung open, letting natural light streak into the hallway below it. Carmilla settled herself onto the bottom rung of the ladder and strained her ears in an attempt to discern if there was a threat up in the attic.

Hearing only one heartbeat in the entire room, Carmilla steeled her nerves and prepared herself physically for whatever pain she would have to endure if it was a well-coordinated attack. She shot up the ladder in a single leap, grateful that the curse hadn’t removed her powers entirely. The room came into view and Carmilla let herself relax before she tore through the poor Summer Society girl who had clearly lost a bet of some kind and was now relegated to feeding their vampire guest.

Carmilla wondered if she as also volunteering herself as a natural food source, but decided against the idea. If she needed human blood desperately, she would go to Ser Danny, or hunt down the Marquis and drink from her instead. At least she had Laura and Danny’s permission to take from them if she absolutely needed to drink. Her stomach informed her that she hadn’t had any blood for at least two days, and could she please get on that as soon as possible?

The Summer Society girl jumped a solid foot into the air as Carmilla appeared in front of her. She nearly knocked Carmilla’s lunch off the table and tragically almost spilt the wine again. Carmilla considered killing her if she did anything to mess up her liquid lunch. Her stomach prodded at her again, demanding that she either drain the girl or get with the bunny killing. Even her stomach knew that the Summer Society weren’t especially great at the hunting thing.

“Lady Mircall- Carmilla, you frightened me,” the girl expelled, her breathing erratic and her heart racing so fast Carmilla was momentarily worried for her health. Or maybe she was the rabbit goddess, come to avenge her fallen worshippers by poisoning their vampire charge. Carmilla didn’t know the girl’s actual name, so she filed away her round face underneath the title ‘Bunny’ for now and resolved to ask Ser Danny or Winter the next time she saw either of them.

“Thought you were on Team Burn Carmilla,” she explained as briefly as possible, her eyes locking with the wine and ignoring the rest of the human food on her lunch tray. “Do you guys have any blood for me to eat? This is all great but I can’t actually survive on it.” Bunny’s eyebrows furrowed, like the concept of vampires needed blood to survive was a new concept for her to understand. “There’s usually some in the basement freezer,” Carmilla added, prompting Bunny to nod resolutely and take off towards the basement as fast as her short legs would take her.

Carmilla occupied herself with shoving her stuff back into the bag Laura sent of off with, taking great care to include her phone and the charger, not willing to give up her only means of communicating with the outside world before she absolutely had to. She checked her phone for messages and found two.

One from J.P which only read: ‘Cannot find anything useful that fits your description, will begin work on historical precedence.’

Carmilla could have told him that there wasn’t anything like this in the entire history of Silas University, but he had access to tools beyond just the school’s own history and she let him go off searching without her input.

The other message was from Perry, asking her to come to a particular location at the other edge of the woods at one in the afternoon. It was accompanied by a map with a bright red ‘X’ at the place Perry wanted her to go to. Carmilla could feel the disapproval radiating off the message, but had to go anyway. If she was going to break the curse, Carmilla needed all the help she could get.

She finished packing her things and replied to Perry that she would be leaving the Hunting Lodge soon. Carmilla then ventured back down into the Lodge proper and didn’t bother with sneaking this time. Scarlett and whoever agreed with her would have to deal with her presence at some point over the next week and it wasn’t helping matters to ignore their fairly valid complaints.

Carmilla walked confidently into the kitchen with her bag slung over one shoulder and her nearly empty wine goblet at her lips while she drained it. She’d stopped in Winter’s room and left her lunch there for the girl, remembering her swimming scholarship and the massive amount of calories that burned through each day. The kitchen was empty for a few seconds, Carmilla found herself feeling a twinge of disappointment. She was ready to defend herself to her detractors, and explaining what being in the employ of a Baronet entailed.

Though she still wasn’t completely convinced that ‘Baronet’ was an actual title anyone had ever actually used at any point in history.

Carmilla wasn’t alone for long, as Bunny emerged from the basement with Carmilla’s cooler in her hands, it even had her name on it in Laura’s most illegible handwriting. Bunny brandished the cooler at the vampire, silently refusing to actually open it herself. Though, if Carmilla were to judge just by her pale, sickened face, Bunny had already opened it and wanted nothing to do with what she found inside. Carmilla thanked the girl and didn’t bite at her with any of the many sarcastic remarks that popped into her mind. Bunny scurried away, up the stairs and probably towards the safety of her own bedroom. Carmilla smirked at her retreating form.

She opened the cooler and drew out three bags of blood at random. She drained the first one, and stuffed the other two delicately inside her backpack. Fiddling with the coolers internal temperature settings, Carmilla securely shut the box and left it on the kitchen table for someone to take back down to the basement.

Tightening the straps of her backpack, she resumed her sneaking through the house policy and headed out the back door. She kept her senses trained on the woods in front of her, wanting to have as much foresight as she could get when it came to arrows and attackers. When she satisfied herself that the woods directly around the Summer Society Hunting Lodge were clear, she took off at full speed. Annoyingly, this wasn’t nearly as quick as she normally was.

Carmilla breathed heavily, trying to suck oxygen into lungs that no longer needed it. Her legs felt like lead and the ground didn’t tremble beneath her feet as it normally did when she ran. However despite these new and unwanted obstacles, she was still the fastest and the strongest member of the Baronet’s army. She had to see how far out the curse spread, if it was confined to the woodlands, and was it going to expand and engulf the remaining students at Silas in an actual war that none of them signed up for.

Talking to Perry might also feature in this mission, but it wasn’t especially high on her to-do list for the afternoon.

Off to her right, and a fair way in the distance, she could hear the horses the Marquis brought with her. She guessed that there were at least ten of them, and the Marquis would continue to use them in her campaign against Carmilla and the Baronet. If nothing else stuck with her after this curse, Carmilla would always have the certainty of knowing that despite being a vampire and Danny having a garrison of actual soldiers, Laura was the threatening, terrifying one in their relationship. Carmilla would have to have some words with Danny after they broke the curse about never mentioning any of this to Laura, neither of them could handle their tiny lover having that kind of ammunition on them both.

The agitated pacing of the Baronet faded into the distance as Carmilla kept sprinting towards her goal. The edge of the woods. Hopefully where Perry was waiting for her. While a small wonder, Carmilla was grateful that Perry refused to take part in the plan past ‘capturing the vampire’. She had someone outside of the curse’s radius and the Marquis didn’t have Perry and her monumental organisational skill at her disposal. Carmilla shuddered as she ran at the thought of the Marquis having Lola Perry on her side, her and Ser Danny, and every last one of the Summer Society girls would be dead within days. Forget about fighting in a week. None of them would last that long.

She allowed herself to tune out the rest of the forest as she ran, only allowing herself to do so after she couldn’t hear any of the Marquis’ men anywhere near her. Carmilla kept her complaining limbs going until she saw Perry’s bright red hair between the gaps of the trees. She allowed herself to smile at a familiar face with a familiar mind. The vampire came to a stop several feet away from where Perry was leaning on an invisible wall. Carmilla studied it carefully and came up with an answer.

The barrier was solid. Carmilla punched it repeatedly, and it didn’t even crack. She tried to smoke out and back in on the other side of the barely visible wall, again to no avail. Perry was standing on the other side of it with a blowtorch of all things. There was a large spot of dark burn marks on the barrier that Carmilla assumed had already been attacked. Perry smiled sympathetically at the trapped vampire, setting down her destructive tool carefully and placing her goggles on top.

“Can you hear me?” Perry shouted at the barrier. Carmilla winced at the volume and nodded while holding up her hand in an ‘okay’ gesture. “Good. Is everyone still alive in there?” Perry asked, her forehead creased with worry. Carmilla’s heart warmed like it always did over Perry’s perpetual concern for their group’s well-being. In her attempts to trick herself into planning for the future years and decades down the line, she would always come back to an image of Perry fixing a skinned knee acquired by her kid. It helped.

“As far as I know, the Marquis wouldn’t exactly announce if she lost one of her men,” Carmilla replied, keeping the natural urge to answer sarcastically under control. She continued her inspection of the barrier, finding nothing that could help them get out, or a way for Perry and whoever else was left on the outside to get in. “And she would totally announce it to the world if she captured and/or killed one of Danny’s girls, so hopefully everyone’s okay.”

“And you can’t get out at all?” Perry asked, despite the mounting horror dawning on her face. Carmilla wanted to hug her, and cursed internally at her girlfriends’ successful campaign to soften her to other people. “So, you’re all just going to stay in there until-?”

“I think whatever it is will stop after the duel,” Carmilla stopped Perry. She visibly gulped at the mention of the duel.

“After Danny and Laura fight,” Perry paused to collect herself and the worry seeping out of every inch of her, “to the death, you think this might all go away?”

Carmilla wasn’t amused by the accusation. “Lola, they are mine to love, and I won’t let it come to that.”

Their eyes remained locked, a game of chicken fought over who was more worried. It wasn’t Carmilla’s bravest moment. She lost. Everyone lost when going up against Perry. Even when she was turned into a six year old, Perry generated more worry per pound than any other land mammal. “And what is your brilliant plan?”

Young lady, Carmilla added in her head. It just sounded right after most everything Perry said. “Figure out what the hell happened! Obviously!”

Carmilla couldn’t help the outburst. The gentle squeeze on her chest every time she thought of her girlfriends quickly became a crushing weight that made her feel like she was drowning. She stumbled back from the barrier and Perry’s shocked face. Carmilla glared impotently at the invisible wall, growling softly out of frustration. Perry, out of tact or embarrassment Carmilla could not tell, looked away from the frustrated woman before her. Carmilla’s chest heaved uselessly, venting her anger the best it could. Later she would be thankful for Perry’s worrying, but not now.

“Can you still do the cat thing?” Perry questioned into the silence, as if she was running through a list of all the superpowers Carmilla had displayed over the years. “Not that it would help, but still.” Perry began to pace in her worry. Carmilla, stunned that the thought hadn’t crossed her mind before, tried to shift herself. She strained so hard that she could almost feel something break, a blood vessel or a muscle maybe. It hurt, a lot.

“Nope, can’t do ‘the cat thing’, which sucks,” Carmilla admitted, accepting defeat on the powers front. She got the message, be a normal-ish girl and fix your problems like a human being. “Which means stopping this, breaking the curse, is going to be down to you three.”

Perry gulped, and Carmilla tried not to stare at her neck. The lack of fresh blood would start to get to her eventually. Her supply in the basement was bound to run out soon, and she doubted that Ser Danny would be as obliging with her blood as regular Danny was when needed.

“How can we possibly stop it?” Perry spread her arms wide to indicate the massive invisible barrier preventing herself, J.P. and LaFontaine from doing anything practical to help. “You’re all trapped in there, remember?”

Carmilla resisted her natural urge to snap, she prided herself on how far she’d come with her friends, and didn’t want to mess it all up because she was frustrated. Perry was asking a very reasonable question, Carmilla told herself, and you’re just worried.

“I need you to figure out where the curse is coming from,” Carmilla elaborated carefully. If it was coming from someone, rather than something, then there was very little those on the outside could do in any case. However Carmilla didn’t think anyone powerful enough to cast this level of curse could have flown below her radar for so long without raising at least a cursory suspicion. There was a giant Library that had depths not even J.P. could discern after years of trying, and it was filled with all kinds of magic. Much better suspect.

“Thoughts on where to start?” Perry asked without hesitation. Carmilla smiled genuinely at the woman she called her friend. Her own, independent of Laura and Danny. “Aside from ‘in the Library somewhere’? I’ve had LaFontaine and J.P. yammering about mounting an expedition down there for the last four hours. Something specific, please.”

Carmilla tried to look at the problem like Laura would. Her girlfriend had a knack for seeing the root cause of any given crisis, eventually. Though she guessed wrong more than once over the years, Laura’s journalistic instincts had a way of noticing which details were important and which ones were superfluous.

“It started overnight, right?” Perry nodded. “So someone did something last night that hasn’t been done before?” Carmilla hated the question in her statement, hated being unsure.

“Someone affected by the curse, or someone on the outside?” Perry asked the air in general. Carmilla shrugged uselessly, she couldn’t even answer that.

“Start there, have J.P. search for magical objects, demigods, or cults in or around Silas, you and LaFontaine put together a time-line of events leading up to last night. I was awake at midnight and Danny was still Danny so it had to have happened after that, I think,” Carmilla said in what she hoped was an encouraging manner. “I’ll canvas the witnesses, maybe try and catch one of the Marquis’ men, grill them for details, anything that might suggest we brought this on ourselves.”

“Who would do this to themselves on purpose?” Perry asked, discomforted by the very idea. Carmilla let the question roll over in her mind a few times.

“Maybe they didn’t, maybe someone’s just acting the part,” Carmilla theorised, “and all we need to do is catch them out.”

“And?” Carmilla knew what Perry was fishing for, and it left a bad taste in her mouth.

“I will do anything necessary to break the curse,” Carmilla re-asserted, “and then whoever did it will have their fate in Danny and Laura’s hands.”

Perry visibly relaxed, she even dropped her hands from her hips.

“However,” Carmilla began, Perry tensed back up, “if they make a move to hurt my girls? I’ll rip their throats out.”

They parted in terse silence. Perry back to Silas, Carmilla sneaking her way trough the forest towards the Summer Society Hunting Lodge.

 

* * *

 

Carmilla stretched, annoyed that she was unable to access the only truly effective relaxation method that worked every single time. Laura and Danny were busy being cursed and trying to kill each other, and she was unable to escape the stress of the situation by shifting into a giant black panther. She inspected her human hands, willing them to turn into paws with claws sharp and strong enough to cut through steel. That would stop the Marquis in a second. No human had ever stood against her, their courage always faltered when faced with a wild beast.

Sleep wasn’t coming especially easy. Imagining the terror on Laura’s evil little face was both satisfying and deeply unsettling, keeping her from rest and the near-welcome respite of the Captain’s torment. One full day of dodging the Summer Society girls and their endless questions, did she really think they were all cursed?

Yes, you stupid morons!

It was all she could do to restrain herself, narrowly avoiding a meeting between Scarlett’s neck and her fangs.

Good God, she missed Danny. She missed Laura. She used no less than seven languages to rant against whoever was doing this to them. Carmilla knew for a fact that Danny’s basement was soundproofed, a holdover from when she was actually a student. More than one girl didn’t so much complain as fall asleep at the breakfast table whenever Laura and Carmilla spent the night. Danny seemed to feed off the exhaustion and Laura took on enough sugar to perk up Switzerland. Carmilla growled at her traitorous head for drifting back to better times while Ser Danny was probably out getting herself killed or worse, captured by the Marquis.

Carmilla wouldn’t be able to help if she was captured, the Marquis’ display of metallurgical superiority had the vampire not scared, but certainly wary of clashing with her and her forces. Carmilla didn’t doubt that a Summer Society girl was worth three Zeta frat boys, however those were the ratios as of the start of the curse and she wasn’t keen to test out her belief in the girls.

If she strained to the point of mild head pain, Carmilla could almost differentiate between the twenty or more people stumbling through the woods under the cover of darkness. She rolled her eyes, neither side seemed to be willing to sacrifice the element of surprise to lighting their troops’ way in the night. Carmilla was keeping an idle tally in her head of how many falls each side racked up. Thus far, the Marquis was winning, twenty-seven to sixteen.

The sounds of a woodland alive with young feet clomping around aimlessly, music to Carmilla’s ears. Anything but them attacking each other. The guilt of innocent lives lost essentially to make her feel better might be what ended her three hundred and thirty-seven year streak of being alive. Alive adjacent, close enough. The rhythms of heavy boots on hard winter grounds lulled Carmilla’s restlessness into nothing.

 

* * *

 

 

“You know, we have to stop meeting like this,” Carmilla groaned out from her position against the cold stone of the chapel floor. The Captain perched herself on the back of one of the few remaining pews, a dirty rag in one hand and her crossbow in the other. “This is just cruel now.”

“Proper weapon care is important, monster,” the Captain responded, her voice far to casual, to conversational for Carmilla’s liking. She vastly preferred her enemies to be inhumane creatures from the very depths of ancient Sumerian books of evil, chatty wasn’t in the job description. The chapel wasn’t burning, though Carmilla couldn’t move much like usual. At this point in her week, Carmilla depressed herself by finding the consistency the Captain brought comforting.

“Let me go, and I’ll show you exactly what a real weapon looks like,” Carmilla snarled, forcing her fangs out on display despite the pain it caused her. The Captain snorted, not even bothering to glance at Carmilla’s pitiful show of strength.

“You sound like a drunken vagrant propositioning a prostitute,” she mocked. Carmilla remained thankful that Danny was nothing like this woman, except for the resolute determination. “My intelligence suggested that you were an actual Countess during your mortal life?”

Carmilla wondered if her sudden lack of supernatural abilities translated over to her dreams. She concentrated hard on the Captain, willing her stupid red her to go up in flames. When that didn’t work, she glared at her hands, picturing them turning into giant black paws. She swore under her breath, she was just as neutered in her dreams as she was in the waking world.

"Where did your men go?" Carmilla asked. The Captain froze for a moment, rag halfway between the crossbow and a bucket of water. "Do you think you can take me on your own?"

The Captain carefully placed her crossbow on the pew, seemingly ignoring Carmilla. Though the woman willingly disarmed herself, Carmilla still couldn't move. The fear kept her locked in place, despite her sudden advantage.

"'Take you'?" The Captain's eyebrows rose, Carmilla winced. She looked so much like Danny, a future Danny that hated her, but still Danny. "That settles those rumours about your leanings, do you bed the poor girls before you devour them?"

Carmilla snarled at the Captain, because she honestly didn't during her three centuries of kidnapping sleep with anyone she intended to kill herself. "No, I do not!"

The Captain sniffed derisively, turning her attention back to the cleaning of her weapon. "Yet you lean that way, little monster?"

"Not all of us are graced with giant genes, big monster!" Carmilla responded childishly. "Some of us are regular-sized lesbians who only eat ladies with permission!"

The Captain remained unfazed.

"Are you implying I'm a cannibal?" She loaded her crossbow and aimed at Carmilla with steady hands. "Because that would end poorly for you." Carmilla flinched, and bravely stared down the bolt.

"You aren't real," Carmilla chanted to herself. The Captain lowered her weapon, seemingly confused at the vampire's sudden panicked repetitive behaviour. "You aren't real."

The Captain shrugged off her confusion, threatening Carmilla again.

The fires returned, blazing to life with a dull roar. The brightness behind the Captain made her all the more threatening to Carmilla, though she couldn't place why. It surrounded the Captain, creating a halo of unbearable lightness around her hair.

Carmilla's body jolted back under her own control. She scraped and crawled backwards but wasn't fast enough.

The crossbow bolt hit her directly in the heart, and her world went white.

 

* * *

 

 

The thundering of hooves tearing through the woods greeted Carmilla as she woke. She grasped blindly into the darkness, reaching for Laura and Danny, needing their comfort to make it better.

What 'it' was she could barely remember, but she knew it was horrible and terrible.

And coming for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna take a break from this for Femslash February. Sorry about that.
> 
> Lemme know what you thought!


	13. The Shot Heard All Through Silas

Carmilla had just started to drift off back into the darkness of sleep when a commotion broke out above her head. Shouting girls and thundering horses broke through the silence of the night and had Carmilla out of bed and halfway into her clothes within moments. She could smell blood, not clearly, but it was there and it terrified her. Especially, she remembered with a sinking feeling, with Ser Danny drawing the short straw, sending her out to keep watch throughout the night. The Summer Society girls were fully panicking, rushing around and calling for medical attention as soon as possible. Carmilla slipped on her boots and took off up the staircase.

The loud cluster of people reached the front door at the same time Carmilla got her hand on the door to the basement. They met in the middle, Carmilla crashing into Winter in her haste to confirm her worst fears. Winter took the side tackle well, keeping her feet and continuing to bark orders out at everyone she could see, occasionally tilting her head back to yell at some of the girls who were no doubt already asleep.

The familiar scent of blood slammed into Carmilla before she saw the source. She immediately wanted to throw the Summer Society girls out of the way, to defer to her greater experience. She didn’t, the mounting terror in her bones keeping her still and silent as the other two young women on guard in the night came rushing into the kitchen. Winter directed one of the half-asleep girls to clear the table off, and sent another to fetch the medical emergency kit from wherever they’d stashed it.

Carmilla stopped breathing as Ser Danny came into view. She was pale, more than usual, and her body hung between the arms of the other two guards as if she were dead weight. Carmilla took half a step towards Ser Danny and her disgustingly alluring blood, and stopped herself from getting any closer out of fear. What if she couldn’t be of any help? All she could think to do was a subject neither Carmilla nor Danny and Laura ever pulled the courage together to discuss. Carmilla watched as Ser Danny was laid gently onto the table with a crossbow bolt sticking out from underneath her right collarbone. She debated with herself to distract from the present threat of death. Carmilla wished they’d all sat down and talked it out years ago.

Carmilla stared at Danny’s neck, stained with her own blood and just as elegant as it always was. Just as tempting too. Though Mother never discussed it with any of her children, Carmilla could remember enough of her own death and rebirth to figure it out on her own. Ser Danny could be dying, and Carmilla could stop it.

Why couldn’t she move her legs? They needed to move and move fast if she was going to kidnap Ser Danny’s limp form, taking on the mostly unaware Summer Society while keeping Ser Danny out of harms way. She would have to dig a grave and do some chanting, and her legs not agreeing with the plan were not helping at all.

The Summer Society girls swarmed around their leader, blocking Ser Danny from Carmilla’s view, and snapping her out of her planning.

She couldn’t turn Danny while her girlfriend couldn’t consent to it. They should have discussed it years ago, but Carmilla’s pride stopped her from bringing it up. It would have made her seem more committed than she was willing to admit at the start of their relationship and then she just forgot to bring it up once it became clear to all three of them that this was starting to look like a forever kind of relationship.

Carmilla heard someone in one of the living rooms starting a fire and realised with mild horror what exactly the Summer Society girls were going to do about Ser Danny’s wound. Carmilla trained her ears on Ser Danny’s wild heartbeat, consoling herself with the knowledge that it was still beating and that her lover was still breathing. She pushed the panic, the apprehension, and the impending sense of loss aside in favour of focusing all of her attention on Ser Danny fighting back into awareness.

“Hey, Boss!” Winter called cheerily from where she was rifling through the medical kit. It seemed like a modern first-aid kit as far as Carmilla could tell although she hadn’t actually seen the inside of one since the 1980’s when she flirted briefly with becoming Doctor Karnstein. Mother completed her ritual quickly that decade and Carmilla was forced back into exile in the middle of nowhere as per usual between rituals. “Welcome back,” Winter continued, and moved closer to the Baronet to force something down her throat. Painkillers probably.

Ser Danny accepted the pills easily, dry swallowing them as she gritted her teeth against the excruciating pain she was in. Carmilla held her breath for the Baronet to start screaming or to pass out again. Carmilla remembered passing out from the pain of her wounds shortly before she met the real darkness of death. She was proud of Ser Danny for holding on to consciousness for the few minutes she had.

“I go somewhere?” Ser Danny asked, her face a mixture of contorted pain and frustrated confusion. Winter chuckled at her while keeping an eye on the two girls working on the Baronet’s wound. Winter seemed to be actively drawing the attention of the patient, a wise move in Carmilla’s experience. Danny was quite possibly to most stubborn injured person Carmilla had met in over three hundred years. She was constantly claiming she was perfectly healthy despite frequent bouts of vomiting, and if it didn’t require a hospital, then Danny didn’t need looking after. Carmilla once considered hurting Danny just that little bit more so she and Laura could drag their girlfriend to an off-campus emergency room. She wisely didn’t tell either of her girlfriends.

“A nice stroll in the woods, meet anyone interesting?” Winter questioned, smiling lightly at Ser Danny’s hazed expression. The Baronet shook her head in the negative and started to lift her eyes so she could see the injury that was clearly bothering her. “Hey!”

Winter’s pleasant, soothing tone disappeared, replaced by her commanding voice and an insistent hand on her forehead, preventing Ser Danny from catching sight of the bolt still sticking out of her chest at an odd angle.

“Bite this,” Winter ordered, raising a thick strap of leather to the Baronet’s lips.

“That bad?” Ser Danny wondered out loud before she dutifully opened her mouth and took the leather between her teeth. Carmilla wanted to slap herself for thinking that she should thank Winter for saving her girlfriend’s tongue, because so very much not the time for that kind of thinking.

Carmilla had to look away as they removed the bolt and set about stopping the bleeding. The girl who had started a fire came silently into the room and caught Winter’s eye. She nodded and shared a glance with the two girls who had taken over the medical proceedings. The fire girl disappeared and Carmilla knew she couldn’t be in the room for what they were about to do. She would lose control and start tearing into the Summer Society girls as they tried to save their leader’s life.

She bolted back through the door and stumbled back down the stairs to dive into Danny’s bed. She covered her ears and started humming to block out any of Ser Danny’s screaming, for the safety of the girls. Laura held her back in the hospital last time Danny visited, the Marquis would behead her instead.

Carmilla paced the length of the basement, willing time to go faster so that she would be able to skip the worried, not knowing portion of having a loved one injured potentially fatally. She had come down here to escape the raw emotional toll Ser Danny’s condition was taking on her, and nearly hit herself at how callous she sounded. Selfish, thinking about her own feelings while Ser Danny was one floor away, fighting against a wound that could kill her if not treated properly. She was overcome with guilt and carefully pivoted the feeling into something helpful like Laura and Danny had worked on for months with her.

Casting her eyes around the basement, she eventually settled on taking the Lola Perry approach to distress. She made the Baronet’s bed, stacked Danny’s multitude of paperwork to one side of her desk, and was wiping down the giant freezer when something slightly more helpful came into her mind. She threw the freezer open and was greeted to a few dead rabbits that the Summer Society hadn’t gotten around to eating yet. She rummaged around in the freezing cold until she came across what she was searching for. She pulled the cooler Danny kept Carmilla’s supply of blood inside, its electrical heating system working its magic to keep the blood at a preservable temperature.

She slammed the cooler down onto Danny’s desk and almost ripped the lid off in her haste to get inside it. Carmilla pulled each bag of blood out, only pausing to inspect the labels for the tags Perry insisted upon when they set up the blood banks for Carmilla. She tossed aside anything that didn’t have a red sticker indicating the blood inside was human and the ones that had metallic marker saying anything but ‘O’ on them.

Carmilla was pretty sure her blood stores were kept at a level consistent with actual blood banks, though she argued with herself internally about the wisdom around using possibly bad blood as a transfusion for Ser Danny when they were almost definitely trapped inside the surrounding woodlands and the nearest hospital was further away than Ser Danny could be transported if something did go wrong.

Carmilla screamed out her frustration, taking one of the ‘AB’ bags with a red sticker on it and shoving her cooler back into its home. She sat roughly down in Danny’s desk chair, puncturing the bag with her fangs and drinking deeply. If she thought about it any further, she would have come to the conclusion that all of the type-O donations were probably from Danny herself. She pushed that thought away, knowing that there was no way to prove it and she didn’t want to cause Danny more harm and pain than she already had tonight.

This past week was proving to be the single worst week she’d ever had that didn’t include a coffin or a dying love. Or both.

Despite her constant humming, Carmilla could still hear Ser Danny’s muffed screams, and her teeth formed into fangs without a conscious thought from Carmilla.

The door leading to the basement opened. Carmilla snarled. A familiar voice squeaked in absolute terror. Bunny pushed through the doorway and tried to enter the room silently.

Carmilla raised her eyes slowly, pushing her shoulders back and glaring at Bunny.

"Think long and hard about your current life choices, little Bunny," Carmilla snarled, willing her body into a panther with all her might. It didn't intimidate her, despite the quivering hands and darting eyes.

"Winter sent me to caution you against coming back up there, something about your condition and Ser Danny's condition not meshing well with each other?" Bunny's voice couldn't stop the unsure questioning from coming forward. Carmilla flared with rage at the Summer Society idiot who thought she could tell Carmilla what to do. Bunny must have seen a change on her face as she took a step back upwards towards the door.

"I don't take well to orders."

Bunny froze. Carmilla could see her little brain ticking into overdrive as it attempted to comprehend someone who didn't follow orders. Even Ser Danny probably took orders from a ruling monarch in their cursed lives. Bunny opened and closed her mouth several times, trying to formulate words that were proving to be beyond elusive.

"There's a lot of blood and we are unsure of your ability to stop yourself," Bunny asserted, her jaw set and her voice more confident than ever. Carmilla still wanted to cross the room and break her stupid neck for daring to order her around. Logical argument that she kind of agreed with be damned. "We are chasing the men who caught her but it's dark, so we don't have people to spare to restrain you if you lose control."

Bunny kept perfectly still, even her heart slowed. Carmilla started to begrudgingly like her, anyone with a backbone hidden underneath their idiocy caught her attention. Her hands curled into tight fists and Carmilla could smell the blood she was drawing with her fingernails.

"Aren't you lucky I'm having similar concerns, little one," Carmilla snarled. Bunny flinched and her heart raced away. "Shut the door on your way out."

Bunny stared at her, blank faced, for several seconds. She was so transfixed that she seemed to forget to be scared. Carmilla stepped forwards to gain back some of her ground.

Bunny went flying up the stairs, slamming the door behind her. Carmilla smirked.

Intimidating the idiots around her always served to ease some of the tension on her shoulders.

Danny screamed against whatever they shoved into her mouth. The sound barely filtered through the heavy door. It hit Carmilla's ears like a freight train, slamming her onto Ser Danny's bed. Her arm shot out and broke the end of it cleanly in two.

"None of them mean it," she told herself quietly, "they can't be held responsible, not really."

Another scream, less desperate. Ser Danny's muffled pained sobbing followed after. Carmilla grabbed the pillow that smelled the lest like her love, and tore it to pieces without much effort.

Her destruction of Danny's, Ser Danny's, no Danny's bedroom continued for over an hour as the Summer Society medical division worked on their leader.

Carmilla waited in the basement. She punched at Danny's weighted bag until it split in two. Her hands cracked and creaked under the force of her blows yet she paid no attention to the shooting pain. Nothing compared.

Hearing a faint but present heartbeat was enough to keep her sanity, though the uneasy quiet of the Summer Society Hunting Lodge did little to distract her from the very close call Ser Danny had that night.

Carmilla waited, biding her time until Ser Danny was eventually left without guard or medic around her. Carmilla didn't want her worry to be public knowledge, none of the cursed Summer Society girls feared her enough except for Bunny. Maybe if she ripped Scarlett's spine out through her throat there would be the fear and respect she was used to, but her girlfriends would object as they were now and in their normal personas. Murder unless sanctioned wasn't part of Carmilla's life, never had been, and her romantic choices ensured that it never would be.

She stared at the door, shut and locked and silent. Winter gave simple orders to the girls, tasking most of them to protection and the rest to 'hunting down the bastards and capturing one alive'. Carmilla shrugged off the notion that she should go stop them before one of the Zetas was brutally murdered in revenge. They shot Danny.

Whoever did it deserved their fate.

The urge to help faded immediately. She had to fight to keep the focus of her rage trained solely on the Zetas. Carmilla couldn't afford to let that kind of venom shoot towards Laura.

Rationally, she knew it would take weeks to make up her destructive reaction to Danny if they got out of this alive. Carmilla wasn't looking forward to it, but it was something that would occur at a time where Laura wasn't ordering people to fucking shoot Danny.

She continued to stare, glare, at the door. Sitting on her hands wasn't keeping them idle, she dug into the bed with strong fingers. Another thing to apologize for later.

Eventually the waiting got the better of her already limited patience. Carmilla had to see Ser Danny, she didn't trust her other senses. She had to see her, to touch her.

She was on her feet and up the stairs before she was done debating her actions with herself. Carmilla got a hand on the doorknob before she stopped to think. To listen.

"Please be gone, please be gone," she whispered, as close to praying as she'd been since she was alive. Clear! She turned the knob and unlocked the door.

The door creaked almost immediately and Carmilla longed for her usual grace back. Slinking through a house during the night was generally easier as a full-strength vampire rather than the watered down pile of useless she was currently. Oddly Ser Danny was no longer lying on the long dining table, though the remnants of the temporary field hospital remained. Bloody rags hastily thrown around the room, buckets of red water, and syringes spent of their medicines hit Carmilla all at once. The harsh reality of how close she'd come to become a vampire with one girlfriend hit her hard.

The smell from the rags must have masked Ser Danny's location. Carmilla swore at her own failings but continued forward towards the main living room where she could hear muffled groaning. The massive mahogany doors pushed forward silently. She had to put more strength into moving the weight than she would have normally liked.

Ser Danny was left fully unattended, though Carmilla could hear girls on the move throughout the house. She wouldn't have long with her wounded lover.

Carmilla's heart fell as Ser Danny came fully into view. The blood was gone from her body. Pale yet clean. She shivered in the cold of the night, her blankets kicked halfway across the room. There was screaming outside, the battle raging into the night while Ser Danny lay unconscious.

The sight of Danny, big, strong, solid Danny, lying there stunned Carmilla for nearly ten full minutes. Her brain struggled to comprehend her girlfriend ever being struck so hard, made to be so weak. It had been a long while since either one of her girls nearly got themselves killed, by far long enough for Carmilla to forget the crushing pain being reminded of their mortality generally brought.

""Milla," Ser Danny groaned in her sleep. Carmilla put her fist through the door in shock. This didn't wake the woman, by some miracle. Ser Danny gave no indication that she was aware of anything but her dreams.

"Less than a week and already dreaming about me?" Carmilla asked the woman, a smirk fighting through her concerned frown. "I am never, ever letting you live this down, like ever."

Still Ser Danny didn't wake. Carmilla took this as a good thing and slowly stepped further into the room proper. Her footsteps remaining light, she came to a rest kneeling next to the wounded Baronet.

The wound didn't smell infected, Carmilla noted now she was closer. Small victories. She searched over the sleeping woman for further signs of injury. Broken bones, collapsed lungs, literally anything that wasn't 'shot in the chest with large chunk of wood and metal'.

"At least you tend towards one big owie," Carmilla muttered. She reached out to take one of Ser Danny's hands, linking their fingers together with far more familiarity than she would be allowed when the woman woke up. "Now Miss Cranky Pants out there, she goes on big scary 'fact finding missions' and gets herself in a 'death by a thousand cuts' situation."

She brushed some of the hair out of Ser Danny's face. Carmilla struggled through her mind for more to say, knowing full well that Danny liked to be talked to while knocked out for medical or injury-related reasons.

"Did you know this kind of shit happens enough for me to know how you prefer to be taken care of?" Carmilla questioned rhetorically, smiling despite her worry and the stabbing pains all over her chest. "I do, and it's infuriating. You're both so fragile and you both insist on getting yourselves hurt."

Ser Danny shifted in her sleep, one of her legs twitching several times before it fully settled down. "That's a pain in bed, and exactly why you aren't allowed to be in the middle ever."

Ser Danny remained silent. Carmilla traced the veins visible on her hand lazily.

"Unlike you, Laura hates it when we try to comfort her, no matter how hurt she is, little shit," Carmilla mumbled, resting her head on the arm of the couch.

She heard some indistinct clashing of weapons and the usual yelling and screaming that came with any of the Summer Society girls met one of the Zetas. Carmilla focused to check on the health of the girls, to see if she needed to intervene. On the whole they seemed to be winning, and taking the Baronet's no-kill order very seriously.

"You help her plan how you're going to get us all killed, and I'm there to catch you all when whatever she's investigating tries to kill us," Carmilla explained, keeping an ear on Scarlett and Kirsch beating the almighty hell out of each other.

"I may need to leave, the latest get everyone killed plan has somehow gone worse than literally any others in the past that didn't involve the world almost ending."

Carmilla's phone updated her with a full background check on each of the Zetas courtesy of Perry. She would deal with that once Ser Danny woke up. Maybe after some more blood, some sleep.

"You mind if I borrow this?" Carmilla asked, leaning up against the couch fully with her legs tucked underneath her body.

Carmilla's ears perked up as she lay beside Ser Danny's prone form. Horses. She winced, knowing that a sudden and complete surrender wasn't especially likely. The horses were on approach in the early hours of the morning, Carmilla assumed that the Marquis had gotten word of the great blow her men struck.

She kept inhumanely still, extending her limited hearing to its limits in an attempt to figure out how bad the coming attack was going to be. While she didn't want to fight her way through dozens of frat boys she would kill every last one of them to stop Ser Danny being hurt even a little bit more. There were hoots and angered screams coming from outside the house and the sounds of battle beginning anew and with a previously absent ferocity.

"I think the main forces found each other," she whispered to Ser Danny, as if any of the many humans around her could hear her words. "Hopefully the girls win, or at least keep them away from you."

She occupied herself with checking Ser Danny's dressings, leaning in close to her love's chest so she didn't miss anything important.

Her arm exploded.

Carmilla nearly bit a chunk of her tongue off to prevent the pained scream that wanted to escape. Her eyes squeezed shut and she narrowed her hearing to just Ser Danny's heart. Her breathing became a conscious effort, forcing herself to ignore the pain. Long enough to see what the hell hit her anyway.

She cracked open an eye to see two Summer Society girls forcibly removing a significantly larger figure from the room. Then she caught sight of the wooden shaft sticking out of her arm. An arrow. Silver judging by how fucking much it killed with pain.

Carmilla cursed at herself under her breath, how could she have been so distracted that an idiot snuck up on her?

Further inside the Lodge she could hear girls screaming and windows shattering. Carmilla kept her head pressed to Ser Danny’s chest. The woman didn’t awaken or give any other indication that the Lodge was under direct attack. Her steady, weak heartbeat gave Carmilla a point to focus on as she worked herself into enough courage to remove the arrowhead from her arm.

The silver flowed through her body, screaming at her to feed, to bleed, to replenish, and to renew. Most of all, it demanded that she kill.

Her fingers wrapped around the wood, keeping her hand clear of the silver. She felt it course around her veins, surging with white hot pain. She bit her cheek between her teeth, pulling despite how much it begged to dominate her.

"Motherfucker!" Carmilla swore softly, as if she could keep silent enough so Ser Danny could still rest and recover. Or to survive the night at least. "Wake up, and I will not be held accountable for the things I say to you."

Ser Danny stirred but didn't wake. Carmilla allowed herself half a moment to be pleased with herself before giving back in to the agony.

She sat vigil at Ser Danny's side. Beyond caring about what any of the Summer Society girls thought of her, Carmilla just wanted the calming presence of one of her girlfriends nearby.

Besides, Ser Danny's heart was the weakest at the moment, which made her by far the least tempting option for snack time. Scarlett's heart was flying after a early morning jog featuring fighting, and Carmilla curled her injured hand around Ser Danny's to very much not kill her.

The arrowhead scraped at her bone. While her flesh would heal, the bone would not. Two weeks after Mother turned her, she met Mother's wrath with her collarbone. It still had a chip out of it that no supernatural source she could find would explain.

She pulled, her eyes watering and a high pitched while whistling through her throat. Ser Danny's heart kicked upwards.

"Fuck," she panted out, using her breathing to calm the hell down. To be bigger than the pain. The bones held in her hand moved, the muscles tensing. Fucking hell, really?

"You poison," Ser Danny slurred, her legs kicking out gently against the end of the giant couch her idiots seemed to think was a reasonable place to put a wounded person. "No good."

Carmilla laughed loud. Ser Danny grinned up at her lazily. Carmilla studied her face, noticing signs of the stronger painkillers she knew the Summer Society had lying around their Hunting Lodge.

The arrow went flying directly into the fireplace, Carmilla honestly didn't care if the girls would wish to reuse every scrap of ammunition they got. It hurt her so it dies.

"I'm okay," Carmilla ventured, pushing the corners of her lips upwards in a crude recreation of a smile. Ser Danny stared hard, fighting through her delirium to notice the barely concealed pinches of pain around Carmilla's eyes.

"Liar," she accused softly, poking Carmilla in the thigh. Her eyes were still unfocused, though she seemed to be slowly coming back to reality, twisting her head around towards the window above her resting place. "What's happening?"

Carmilla placed a strong, steady hand on her uninjured shoulder, stopping Ser Danny from rising and possibly injuring herself further. "There's been a small disagreement about the nice new hole in your chest, they're sorting it out."

The Baronet started to smile before her words settled in properly. Carmilla momentarily forgot that his wasn't strictly speaking her Danny and started to run her fingers through the ever tempting long red hair.

"How'd you hurt?" Ser Danny glared at Carmilla's wound, as if she were personally responsible for it's appearance on the vampire's generally unblemished skin. Carmilla huffed, clearly she was still Danny Lawrence somewhere in there. Potentially fatal wound and using her bullhead to worry about a scratch one of her girlfriend's were wearing.

"Little boy with a bow," Carmilla answered as simply as possible. She kept her fingers running a soothing path through Ser Danny's hair, willing her back to sleep. The Baronet need all the rest and recovery she could get if she were to survive the rest of the week. "Go back to sleep and I'll tell you all about it in the morning."

Ser Danny fought against the exhaustion, wanting to worry over the woman she had sworn to protect some more. Carmilla gently hummed a song to hasten her journey back into the darkness of sleep. The Baronet went down easily, her designated damsel in distress following soon after.

 

* * *

 

Dawn flooded through the living room, waking Carmilla from her silent watch over Ser Danny. She was on her feet with fists raised ready for a fight before Ser Danny's bleary eyes could blink. "Sun bad!"

Carmilla's tension vanished instantaneously. She forgot how funny Danny on painkillers tended to skew.

"That's a myth," Carmilla threw out as she checked the perimeter of the room for any invading Zetas. The sounds of battle were gone, both sides clearly tired out from their night's fighting. Ser Danny hummed in acknowledgement, trying to sit up.

She cried out, restrained even in her pain.

"Did you forget?" Carmilla asked over her shoulder. Ser Danny hissed at her through her clenched teeth. Carmilla was sure that her sensibilities were the only thing keeping her from swearing to high hell and back.

"It's been a difficult day," she admitted under her breath. "I apologise for any discomfort my lapse in awareness may have caused you, Lady Carmilla."

Carmilla wanted to strangle her, and could vividly remember how pleasurable that could be. Ser Danny successfully got herself up into a sitting position, hissing and grunting as she went. Carmilla didn't look at her while she did this, unwilling to face the reality of an injured Danny. She struggled to deal with it when she didn't have a fight to the death awaiting her just days away and Carmilla felt her entire body lock up with fear at the mere thought of the days to come.

"You need to rest, stay alive long enough for me to figure out what the fuck is going on," Carmilla ordered carefully. She restrained the barking demands she wanted to make, all too aware of how new the Baronet was to her acquaintance. "I'll start intimidating people into explaining what the hell is going on here."

"Please don't hurt anyone too badly, Countess?" Ser Danny requested gently, surrendering her stubbornness in favour of giving into the rest her body was demanding. Carmilla scoffed, moving back across the room to get in the Baronet's face.

"I promise not to use any enhanced interrogation techniques," Carmilla gave in, crossing her fingers behind her back, "unless they confess, then I'm tearing their legs off and feeding them their own feet for breakfast."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter down, another round of being unreasonably mean to Danny.
> 
> So I've started writing the fight and I'm getting the impression that it's gonna be longer than 5k words, so this'll be 22 chapters rather than 21 probably.
> 
> Feedback is always greatly appreciated!


	14. The Interrogations

  
Carmilla ignored the Baronet's indignant squawking behind her as she stormed through the Summer Society Hunting Lodge. She allowed her boots to slam heavily onto the wooden flooring, alerting everyone near the living area that someone was pissed off.

Carmilla lashed out at the first poor girl to cross her path, some faceless idiot who didn't register on her regular radar. Suddenly, this random Summer Society girl was potentially someone Carmilla would brutally murder for her possible crimes against Carmilla and her girlfriends.

"Everyone is to report to me here in ten minutes, no exceptions," she growled at the random girl. She scurried off to warm the rest of the Summer Society soldiers of Carmilla's sudden wrath.

Exactly ten minutes later, all of the Summer Society girls were right there in the kitchen with their vampire charge. Every last one of them reeked of worry.

It was delightful.

Scarlett, arms folded and still bleeding a little, scoffed when Carmilla suggested a full investigation into what was happening to all of them. Not for the first time, Carmilla pictured killing her first when she eventually snapped and started the murder spree of people who she didn't care about.

"If you do not comply," she forced out through her silent frustration, "I will presume you're guilty and you and my fists are going to have a wide variety of unpleasant words with each other. Am I clear?"

The assembled Summer Society girls shuffled in place as they shifted their gazes all around the room. Most of them refused to look anywhere near Carmilla. Scarlett glared at her directly.

"Volunteers to go first?"

"What if none of us are willing to be interrogated by some monster Ser Danny decided looked like a wounded kitten on the side of the road?" Scarlett interjected immediately, causing more agitated murmuring around the room. Winter wasn't present, so Carmilla had basically no back-up when it came to this waif of a girl who thought she could take on a vampire with powers she couldn't even dream about.

"Please see above regarding my fist being shoved through your chest," Carmilla growled, stepping closer to Scarlett. To her credit, the blonde girl didn't move backwards nor did she flinch when Carmilla allowed her fangs to peek out from behind her lips. Credit yes, suspicious even more so. No one wasn’t scared of her at first. Laura, Danny, everyone, Carmilla was feared. She grabbed the bleeding girl around her collar and got directly in her face. “You can go first, make this quick.”

Scarlett considered spitting in her face. Carmilla could practically hear her thinking how easy such a simple act of defiance would be for her. Carmilla would throw her through the door if she did, her limited patience completely gone after so long without reliable sleep.

"You know, I'm starting to see the crazy-ass Marquis' point about you," Scarlett hissed low so only Carmilla could hear her skirt the line of treason.

Carmilla responded by dragging her into the dining room without any regard for her neck. Scarlett's head whipped backward and she let out a startled yelp involuntarily. Carmilla smirked at this delightful noise, kicking the heavy door closed behind them and roughly throwing Scarlett in the direction of the two chairs at either end of the table.

Carmilla was happy to nearly shout at the women she was going to interrogate, she wasn't the one with anything to hide. Aside from the fact that she had contact with the outside world. That she felt the odd compulsion to keep secret, so subtle in her mind that she barely registered it.

Scarlett stumbled into her chair and sat down angrily, huffing and puffing her annoyance.

Carmilla slowly sauntered over to her own seat, taking her sweet time to increase the pressure on her first victim.

 

* * *

 

  
"I joined Ser Danny's forces because I thought she was different," Scarlett explained, sounding disgusted with herself. "I heard she was this amazing woman who fought against anyone who dared pick a fight with her. Not some bleeding heart who ran out to find the only non-terrible vampire in all of fucking Europe to save."

Carmilla wondered through her idle rage if this is what Scarlett though of her all the time. Not terrible. She'd certainly been called worse over the last three hundred years. "Is non-terrible the best you can do, or do you have some kind of problem with me?"

Carmilla watched Scarlett carefully, searching for any sign of dishonesty. Her face betrayed nothing but annoyance. Carmilla kind of wanted to believe her, finding a nice honesty in her dislike. "Thus far my boss has run into seven door frames off with the pixies daydreaming about you and now she's gotten herself shot while out trying to protect your dead ass."

Carmilla stayed silent. Scarlett didn't actually seem to notice.

"Do I have a problem with you? No. I have a problem with my love-sick leader trying to get herself killed over you," Scarlett explained, slumping back in her chair with a loud huff. Hopefully, Carmilla thought, the others will take this a little bit more seriously.

"What's your opinion on jazz music?"

Scarlett paused in her huffing and puffing. Carmilla made sure she didn't move a muscle, not giving anything away.

"Is that a vampire thing?" Carmilla trained her hearing on her heartbeat, monitoring her for any changes.

Scarlett stared at her as if the vampire had gone completely insane. Carmilla spent months niggling at Scarlett, annoying the potential truth out of her about her time traveling nature. It never failed to get a rise out of the blonde. The mere suggestion of the Jazz Age tended to send her into a moody disposition.

"Either you've cursed yourself too, or you're innocent. Send the next one in," Carmilla ordered with a dismissive wave of her hand. Scarlett left in a confused daze.

Carmilla was looking forward to beating her to death with her own arms, that would have made her month so much better. Laura would still be off being insane, Danny would still be hurt, but Carmilla would have the inexplicable pleasure of murdering an annoying asshole.

“Send someone else in!”  
  


* * *

 

 

Carmilla sat at the head of the dining table, a notepad sitting in front of her with an extremely official looking pen resting perfectly parallel to it. She waited, and ignored Ser Danny's gasp-filled attempts to sit up on her makeshift bed. Worrying about and fussing over Ser Danny would have to wait until she figured out who exactly was to blame for her injuries. Aside from Laura, that wasn’t an option her heart could take.

The girl took the only other chair available, at the other end of the table, and quivered underneath Carmilla's passive glare. Carmilla honestly couldn't put a name to the face but elected instead to call her Not-Bunny. Because she shook like Bunny did but was clearly not as endearing as Bunny and her panicked face were.

"When did you come into the Baronet's employ?" Carmilla began without checking her list of questions. Those questions concerned the curse itself, and were not designed to flush out whoever was casting it. To figure that out, all Carmilla had to do was pick the liar, the one with the history that didn't make sense. Surely one of the girls wasn't who she said she was, and that girl would slip up. Mention the internet or something. Cultural slang was hard to unlearn and Carmilla doubted anyone at Silas had that kind of commitment or the hatred of Carmilla, Danny, and Laura to sustain the effort pretending under harsh scrutiny would require.

Not-Bunny's heart picked up, and her eyes darted around the room. Carmilla wasn't going to try and catch them on body language, no. If she was going to put a theory forwards to Perry and LaFontaine, then Carmilla was getting herself a full confession, With Ser Danny mostly incapacitated, Carmilla could even use enhanced interrogation techniques. A feral grin stretched her lips as she considered what Not-Bunny would look like tied to a chair for a few days.

Carmilla doubted it would be as attractive as she looked.

"I was apprenticed to her father," Not-Bunny whimpered. Carmilla set a her lips into a lazy smirk, letting the animal energies flow out of her body. The girl was already about to jump out of her skin. In Carmilla's experience, there was nothing she could do to make that fear worse without physically harming her.

There were somewhere between two and four voices in the back of her head informing her of exactly where she could stick that particular notion.

"What is your role here?"

Not-Bunny flinched. Her heart went faster, lie incoming. The girl's head dropped to her chest and her teeth clicked together audibly. Carmilla only heard her answer because of her enhanced hearing.

"Perimeter guard, Countess."

Carmilla restrained the urge to fling her notepad across the room. Shame, lying, they presented the same to her scrutiny. Not-Bunny flinched again as Carmilla violently scraped her chair backwards, standing up and moving around the table in the blink of an eye.

"Aside from being monumentally bad at your job," she paused to lean in close to Not-Bunny's ear, "is there anything you might not have told your boss about?"

Not-Bunny turned slowly to stare at Carmilla, her features blank with shock. Carmilla raised her eyebrows and motioned for her to spit out whatever she was clearly holding inside. She decided to break a finger if she didn't like what the girl said. Girlfriends and Perry be-damned.

"This isn't about last night?"

Carmilla wanted to break all ten of her fingers, for stupidity alone. "Did you not hear my little speech? Going to figure out who cursed us and all that jazz?" She smacked her own forehead. "I am going to rip her throat out, guilty or not."

Not-Bunny was out of her chair and on the opposite side of the room before Carmilla could stop grumbling to herself. All her fingers, and maybe a toe.

"Not you!"

Not-Bunny didn't move. Carmilla glared at the girl, trying to force something lose. She wondered how pissed her assorted friends would be if she tried the thrall thing again. They were only mad for a month after she accidentally grabbed Bunny in self defense. That particular idiot didn't even remember her main reason for siding against Carmilla, though to be fair Carmilla still couldn't be bothered learning her actual name.

"You," she pointed at Not-Bunny, giving her one last appraising look, "you may leave. Please tell Scarlett that if I see her again today, I will be drinking her dry and not in a fun way."

She scurried away, off into the Lodge. Carmilla sat back down heavily in her chair, two down. She genuinely didn't know how many left.

There were only ten or so more Summer Society girls to be examined.

The day wasn't even half over.

Carmilla threw her notepad into the ever-present fireplace. She wouldn't need her questions. Everyone but Ser Danny and perhaps Scarlett could be intimidated into doing what she wanted them to do, there didn't need to be methodical questioning, just threats of violence.

She called the next girl in to face her judgement, blocking the soft groans of pain Ser Danny was letting out in the next room.

 

* * *

 

 

"How was your morning, Lady Carmilla?" Ser Danny asked as soon as Carmilla entered the room. This didn't startle the vampire, she could hear the other woman's heavier waking breathing. "I would participate in your investigations if I were able."

Carmilla laughed under her breath. The Baronet sat propped up on the couch, her discarded breakfast sitting upon the floor next to her and a heavy book open in her lap. "How does one go about tolerating Scarlett? I find myself at a loss," she grumbled. Ser Danny smiled at her with reserved affection.

"She's excellent with a bow," Ser Danny offered in lieu of actual help. Carmilla made a note to ask Danny why the girl was allowed into the Summer Society when she fixed the mess they found themselves in.

"Not time traveler advantages?" Carmilla had to ask. Maybe Ser Danny would be more willing to divulge secrets than regular Danny was. "Because that's my theory in the normal world."

Ser Danny only stared at her in confusion, her head tilted to the side and her feet fidgeting underneath the mountain of blankets the girls had provided as soon as their leader was okay to move.

"Never mind, not important," Carmilla covered awkwardly. She distracted herself from the embarrassment by scooping up Ser Danny's breakfast and running it into the kitchen. Ser Danny barely had the time to whine indignantly before Carmilla was back and securing the door behind her. "How are you?"

Ser Danny shook her head at Carmilla's rapidly changing pace. The pain medicines her healers provided her with had not yet worn off fully, so she was as per usual at a loss to the other woman. "I have a hole in my chest, otherwise fairly fine."

"That's good," Carmilla said, trying on her best encouraging smile. She cringed when Ser Danny broke her gaze. "Just great, not great-"

Ser Danny's lips spread into a wide grin. "I understand that you're at least a hundred years old, have you not been in this situation before?"

If she could, Carmilla would be flushed from her cheeks down to her chest. "I am over three hundred years old, and you actively try to get yourself killed all the damn time."

Ser Danny's ears went bright red, they hid well in her hair. "I meant you still can't talk to a pretty woman without stumbling over your words?"

Carmilla immediately wanted the hesitant Baronet back. Bowing and deferring to the Lady Mircalla's higher social standing, that would be great. She thought that perhaps siting vigil by Ser Danny's bedside didn't exactly encourage her original behaviours.

"You wish," she responded lamely. Ser Danny smirked, her eyes wandering over Carmilla's body for the first time the vampire had noticed during her short stay. "Though I suppose you're not ugly."

"A generous concession, Lady Carmilla," came a breathy reply from Ser Danny. Carmilla watched her alertness fade, eyelids drooping, and her grip on her book loosening. "I believe that's all I can take. My apologies."

Carmilla couldn't find the mean bones she usually brandished at Danny. The ones that let her niggle at her height and her hair and her foolishness, those weren't home anymore. Instead, Carmilla came to kneel back at the wounded woman's bedside, gently taking the book and carefully marking her place. She rearranged her blankets and restrained the urge to kiss her girlfriend as she drifted off to sleep.

"It's okay, rest," she soothed in her best caring voice, Ser Danny was mostly too far gone to register her words anyway. "You're going to need all the energy you can get."

 

* * *

 

 

"How did interrogating the suspects go, Detective Brood?" Perry asked as soon as her face appeared on the glowing screen. "Did you get a confession? Did you kill anyone?"

Carmilla resisted the urge to throw her phone across the room. That would not help. Wouldn't make her friend any less irritating either.

"They're a bunch of idiot sorority sisters who couldn't cast a curse of this strength if it would guarantee them free vodka for all eternity," Carmilla replied without too much sarcasm. None of the Summer Society girls seemed to be lying, and not one of them failed her subtle tests to check for recent magic use.

"Did you use the runes I sent?" Carmilla rolled her eyes. When exactly would LaFontaine be getting back?

"I have already gone through two mothers, neither fared well, would you like to be number three?" Carmilla prodded gently at Perry's better nature. Perry took exactly none of it.

"Oh no, Carmilla wants women instead of men, woe is me. I have failed as a mother and as a person, she must be dying," Perry crowed, hand on forehead and miming fainting. "What's worse? She isn't as down with the mass murder as I want her to be. Again, I fail!"

Carmilla pretended to drop her phone while she grinned.

"Don't you put me down!" Young lady, Carmilla added again. It was second nature to her at this point in their friendship. "I will ground you. No leaving the woods for the rest of the week!"

Carmilla fell back onto the floor, scooping up her phone as she went. She let herself laugh deeply at Perry's over-dramatic display. "Stop! You'll wake Ser Got Herself Shot," Carmilla warned through her laughter. She lifted the device in her hand to see Perry's smiling face reassuring her.

"How is she?"

Carmilla turned to inspect the sleeping Baronet. Ser Danny's cheeks regained their colour during Carmilla's big day of being irrationally mean to the Summer Society girls, and she actually managed to eat all three meals during the day. Which was suspicious now Carmilla really thought about it. She wasn't an expert, but crossbow bolt to the chest felt like it should take a little bit longer to be at this level of healed.

"So good that I think the curse is keeping her alive," Carmilla answered, taking a logical leap towards whatever the original purpose of the curse could possibly be.

"I can't tell if that's good or bad," Perry though out loud. Carmilla grunted her agreement.

"Whatever it is, the endgame is the duel?" Carmilla let the words come out as a question.

"I mean, most supernatural things we've encountered tended to have a flair for the dramatic," Perry started. "It makes sense that the curse would want a big, dramatic duel to the death to be complete."

Carmilla considered this. "Like needing a five-person sacrifice to appease a demigod?"

Perry's face scrunched up in thought. Carmilla let her think quietly, remembering what it was like to be snapped at for interrupting her study session that one time. Nine hundred page books hurt even vampires when thrown hard enough. Eventually, Perry's skin turned from its usual pale to an ashen grey.

"What?"

"What if it's exactly like that?"

Carmilla's thoughts immediately flew to Mother. She could have survived as more than just a part of the demigod. Her girlfriends started sleeping on either side of her to contain her nightmares on the subject. Mother coming back and taking that support almost completely away from her sounded exactly like something she would do to punish her wayward daughter.

"She-"

"No, no, no, sweetie," Perry reassured her almost immediately. "I mean the 'sacrifice' bit."

Carmilla chest punched inward on her heart, crushing it to pieces. "They, I."

She couldn't breath. It bothered her, like the weight on her chest, something she logically knew wasn't actually happening but the panic was real. Air refused to flow into her lungs fast enough.

"Carmilla, stop breathing," Perry ordered gently. "You don't need to be doing it and not doing it won't kill you."

Carmilla followed Perry's direction, forcing her chest to stop rising and falling several times per second. Later, she would recognise the sensation as a relatively light panic attack, and would resolve to buy Perry many chocolates for Valentine's Day.

"They aren't going to be murdered by some crazy frat boy or sorority girl. From what J.P. and I can tell, it isn't anyone or anything outside of your little bubble," Perry reminded Carmilla slowly. "It most definitely isn't your Mother back from her second grave."

Carmilla's head nodded along, though she didn't have any awareness of telling it to do that. "Okay," she croaked.

"And most importantly, we aren't going to let anyone be sacrificed or murdered or consumed by some little curse, are we?"

Ser Danny groaned in her sleep. She did that a lot now. Carmilla leaned more heavily against the side of her bed. The closeness reminded her that Danny at least was still alive, and not consumed or murdered or anything else. She would have to find some way to check on Laura in the morning. Her lips ticked upwards for long enough that Perry caught on to her panic passing.

"Excellent! We will run some more background checks on anyone else who could possibly still be on campus. You try and look out for people acting weird?"

Carmilla smiled. "Where would you like me to start with that one? Dumbass here bowing and calling me a 'lady', or Laura outside getting her Salem on?" Perry's cheeks tinged red as she grew flustered. "Yeah, yeah. I know what you meant."

"I will also set J.P. on researching curses or whatever that can keep people alive and healthy, that has to narrow it down."

They said their farewells and Carmilla settled in to a night curled up on the floor. It didn't bother her.

Her arm, however, was still throwing a tantrum at its fairly severe brush with a silver arrowhead. The pain annoyed her, and it made getting comfortable on the floor more of a chore than it should have been.

 

* * *

 

 

Carmilla woke in the middle of the night to her arm screaming in pain. She’d rolled over onto it and the remaining minescule bits of silver moved and fuck it hurt. She stumbled to her feet and collapsed into Danny’s expensive and overly-comfortable desk chair. She was back asleep in moments, the world fading away.

She was woken with the dawn of a new day by the Baronet.

"How is your arm?" Carmilla came into awareness of her surroundings with the Baronet's words. "And what did you do to your side?"

Carmilla registered her concerned tone. Also, she wasn't struck in her side during the last raid and she would have remembered if anyone else had hurt her, and then removed them from the land of the living.

"Nothing?" Carmilla didn't have the energy left to deal with whatever strange crap the Baronet had for her today. "My arm is fine."

The Baronet, who nearly refused help in getting down the stairs to rest in a quieter area, was sitting up in Danny's bed. She stared at Carmilla without any hesitation.

Carmilla then knew she made a mistake. Staying at Ser Danny's side during the entirety of her injuries had burned away her awkward proper nature. Now she was comfortable with the dangerous vampire Countess staying in her home. The could only get more annoying.

"No, there is something there," she insisted, pointing and frowning. Carmilla spun around in Danny's desk chair, tugging down her shirt to hide whatever Ser Danny though she saw. "Did another of the Marquis' men get to you during the attack, or did you sneak out of the base again?"

Carmilla snarled her lips at the Baronet. "My side doesn't even hurt, so clearly, you must be seeing things."

Ser Danny rolled her eyes and folded her arms. "You left the house again, to see the friend you keep talking to on your little box thing."

"I didn't leave," Carmilla reassured slowly. She felt over her lower back and her hips until she found a thin cut about the length of her index finger. "What the fuck?"

The Baronet seemed to choke on her own saliva at Carmilla's cursing. She went bright red as Carmilla pulled her shirt off and moved over to Danny's floor length mirror. She twisted and turned to get a better look at the angry red slash and the surrounding green skin. It didn't hurt, which ruled out a lot of the first ideas that popped into her head.

That left a cursed weapon or a regular wound that somehow got flecks of silver inside of it while it was still open. Carmilla couldn't remember encountering either.

"I don't remember getting that," she admitted quietly. Ser Danny grunted in pain. Carmilla was at her side in an instant, ignoring how much brighter she went when the topless woman came sliding next to her bed. The Baronet stopped trying to get out of the bed, halted by the concern on Carmilla's face. "Don't do that."

The door to the basement apartment banged open, two sets of thundering feet racing down the stairs. Carmilla didn't move, nor did she give any indication that she even heard the interrupting young women.

"Ser? Scarlett's drunk and demanding that we hand over the Countess," Winter rushed to say before Bunny could open her mouth. Ser Danny rolled her eyes again and moved to respond. She stopped with a hand on her arm, Carmilla's caring eyes softening her annoyance into nothing.

"Tell Scarlett she can either come down here and say that to my face or she can shut the fuck up and mind her own business," threatened Carmilla. The three Summer Society girls stilled in awe of her quiet authority.

"We will go do that," Winter squeaked, grabbing Bunny's shoulder and hauling the frightened girl back up the stairs with her. Carmilla waited until they shut the door to start moving again, she checked over Ser Danny's body for any new injuries or unnecessary strain to her existing ones.

"Such obedient soldiers you have, much better than they normally are," Carmilla tossed out to Ser Danny's clear and infinite pride. "It's usually disorganised chaos around here."

"How does one acquire a wound without remembering it?" Ser Danny interjected into Carmilla's pleasant world of an orderly Summer Society.

"Look, you get me into fights all the time that I don't remember all that well," Carmilla started to answer. "This kind of crap isn't exactly abnormal for me."

"The Marquis'-"

"Laura," cut in Carmilla insistently. She missed hearing her second love's name all the time. Her and Danny usually spent their time lost in each other and the feeling of not quite full to bursting of love when Laura wasn't with them, her name tended to come up a lot. "Her name is Laura."

Ser Danny stared at her like she was speaking Russian. "Her name might matter to you but it doesn't to me. I need to be able to fight her at the end of the week."

Carmilla straddled to Baronet to get her attention. It worked, Ser Danny's heart sped up to the point of worry. Her hands shook as they hesitantly came to rest on Carmilla's hips. "I love her," Carmilla stated, leaving no room for argument.

"Oh," Ser Danny's small voice breathed out. Carmilla watched her heart drop through the floor. She'd sat by and watched Laura do this to Danny Lawrence's face twice now and there was no way in hell she was going to be the cause of it. "Well-"

Carmilla cut her off by softly pressing her lips to Ser Danny's.

She pulled back when she noticed Ser Danny wasn't really breathing anymore. "You are very odd," the Baronet whispered, struggling to catch her breath while Carmilla tried to restrain herself from moving back in. That kind of thing was good for shutting Ser Danny up, but probably wouldn't be super helpful in the long run.

"That's hardly relevant right now, though you aren't wrong," argued Carmilla, poking Ser Danny in the stomach. "Laura isn't like this normally. She kept me tied to a chair for a while there, but she thought I was trying to kill her so I'm willing to let that slide."

Ser Danny's face scrunched up in confusion. "Were you trying to kill her?"

Carmilla opened her mouth to say no, but stopped the word from coming out. "Technically an argument could be made for yes I was, but 'trying to get into her pants' is far more accurate."

"Are vampires like spiders? Is mating generally fatal for you?" Ser Danny asked with the most innocent expression. Carmilla almost took her seriously. "How do you technically try and kill someone?"

Carmilla pulled her phone out of her back pocket and waved it around as she answered, "that's a long story that Laura found the need to put out for the entire school to see so I literally never have to explain this ever."

Ser Danny's eyes flicked between Carmilla and the phone. "Is that not a communication device?"

Carmilla didn't laugh, she had some tact. "It's a lot of things. Which I shouldn't show you, because I don't think you'll like Laura any better after seeing the whole thing."

"Why not?"

"Uh, she is not the most aware person in the world, and that's all you're getting," Carmilla finished the discussion. She removed herself from the Baronet's lap and put her poor dying phone on to charge. Maybe she could have Perry flutter her eyes at LaFontaine to make a cut of Laura's footage that didn't involve Danny at all. "Aside from the loss of you top archer, how pissed would you be if Scarlett was accidentally comatose for the next few days?"

"Please don't attack any of my soldiers, it will only add to any anti-vampire sentiments among them," pleaded Ser Danny. Carmilla laughed and dropped back into the stupidly comfortable desk chair. "It's not funny! It has been an uphill battle convincing all of them of your worth, in the rightness of saving you."

"Alright, no attacking Scarlett unless she attacks me first," she accepted easily. The Baronet didn't bother arguing with her further. Carmilla had her hands back on her would, scratching at it like it was the only thing she could think about. "Now that I know it's there, it itches."

Ser Danny bit down on her knuckles to prevent herself from snickering. "Ask anyone upstairs or outside and they will all tell you that the Countess Karnstein is a terrifying and powerful vampire whose strength and physical ability should be respected if not feared. And yet," she left the statement hanging.

Carmilla selected a soft looking pen and flung it in a wide arc to land loudly on Ser Danny's head.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More than a month later, here we are.
> 
> Sorry about that, started a new job and March went away.


	15. The Second Round

"None of these idiots are intelligent enough to cast this kind of curse, and none of them smell like they have any kind of magical aptitude," Carmilla whined to Perry later after Ser Danny went to sleep. Or more accurately, passed out to whatever the Summer Society medical team gave her for her pain.

Perry broke out into bellowing laughter, her head thrown back and clutching her stomach. Carmilla set up her phone so she could see Perry over Skype while she worked on writing down her theories. It sometimes helped her thought process to write it all down, get the facts straight.

"Well maybe it's some other idiot out here doing it?" Perry ventured yet again, trying to reign in her laughter. "Have you considered that it's an actual not-idiot?"

Carmilla considered malicious intent behind the fairly terrible week she was having. She didn't really see it, this kind of issue at Silas was always an accident. Carmilla watched more than fifty years go by at this university, on and off. Not once during that entire time had anyone but her Mother done anything on this large of a scale. Except for that time loop thing Danny supposedly went through with the man in the machine, but Carmilla kind of thought her girlfriend was fucking with her about that so she didn’t count it.

"We're running out of options, kiddo," she eventually groaned into her hands. "And time. Options and time are in short supply. When's the spouse getting in?"

Perry went bright red and reshuffled the many papers strewn across her desk.

"Really? You guys are approaching the tenth anniversary of your de facto marriage, and you're still blushing at the very suggestion that you're involved?"

Perry huffed, perpetually annoyed at Carmilla going for her weak spots constantly. "Some of us like to keep our private lives private, rather than documenting every moment of it over the internet."

Carmilla rolled her eyes. "Yes, it's a miracle that we haven't accidentally released a sex tape."

"Don't joke about that, there was a betting pool for a while there."

Carmilla's eyebrows shot up.

"There was not," she argued. Perry hummed dismissively and Carmilla had the sudden urge to suffocate herself in Danny's currently being used pile of pillows. "You are all children."

"Yes we are, Grandma. LaFontaine will be getting back to Silas in about an hour. They said they have some ideas that we might not have considered," Perry explained. Carmilla groaned long and loud.

"I am not checking anyone for parasites and I don't care if it kills them if I don't," she complained, using her well-practised whining teenager voice to get across how willing she was to dig her heels in about this. "It's not that, I would be able to hear them and there would be dead ones all over me from where they failed."

Perry went silent, her thoughtful face on. "Thought about this much?"

Carmilla glared. "They're trying to kill each other, I haven't really thought about much else."

Perry allowed Carmilla to be embarrassed by her own emotions. She was long done trying to get the vampire to open up properly to literally anyone aside from Danny and Laura. Actual years of trying to crack through her defences left Perry amazed by how broken Carmilla's life had left her. She tended to be overwhelmed with pride every time Laura got her to express something openly and honestly.

“Not a parasite, not someone casting a curse, not the demigod, probably,” Perry stopped to drop her head into her hands. “We are running out of suspects here.”

Carmilla shrugged, she generally didn’t care about the how or the why of the weirder aspects of Silas. That was what Laura and LaFontaine were for, they liked this crap so no one else developed an interest. Which was royally biting them with Laura not herself and LaFontaine off-campus. Carmilla would put a great deal of money on LaFontaine getting to the bottom of the situation before the duel, though Perry wouldn’t exactly disagree.

“Something rotten in the Silas Library?” Carmilla suggested, hunting around for something warm to wear. She planned to venture out of the Lodge, and the less skin she showed the better when it came to potential encounters with silver. “Deranged prince maybe?”

Perry glared. “Not funny.”

“Fine, you do better,” Carmilla challenged playfully. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, Xena’s waking up.”

 

* * *

 

 

The pre-dawn hours were silent in the Lodge. Carmilla again sat by Ser Danny's side until she passed out to the exhaustion and the pain. She sat perfectly still until she was sure the Baronet was matching Danny's steady breathing pattern while asleep.

Carmilla rose around one in the morning, taking care to keep her footsteps light and keeping aware of her surroundings. She needed to see that Laura was okay, that she wasn't freezing to death out in the middle of the woods with nothing but frat boys to keep her safe. Winter had suddenly come to Silas University with the coming of the curse.

Which was new.

Carmilla didn't know how Mother made the weather stop participating in things like snow. Styria was covered in a blanket of snow when her, Mother, and William all arrived at Silas to begin their old traps anew. It hadn't snowed in the years since Mother's death, though conditions had been otherwise perfect for it to happen. Aside from that one notable incident in which Carmilla had developed a taste for Danny’s blood, willingly given.

Mostly, Carmilla was confused by everything Silas. She tried and tried to be the all-knowing wise age-old vampire, she did. But Laura generally ended up knowing more about any given threat after three days of totally legit investigative journalism and grilling of the man in the machine. It rankled unpleasantly inside her heart, and she was willing to ignore it if it meant less work for her.

The snow fell down constantly during the night. Carmilla had never been so cold in her life, not even when she died. It was like something was trying to kill all of them, curse or not.

Sneaking out of the Summer Society Hunting Lodge was so simple she wanted to beat the almighty hell out of whichever idiot girl was put in charge of security for the night. She slipped out into the frozen darkness of the early morning without a single piece of resistance. No one noticed her leave, and no one would notice her come back from her foray behind enemy lines.

Carmilla had to see Laura. Even if the girl was trying to kill her after an extended period of torture and live experimentation. Carmilla had to see her, confirm that she was alive and okay.

 

* * *

 

 

The woods surrounding Silas University weren't as scary and filled with mystery as one might expect. Laura spent a month trying to find anything out of the ordinary about them and only got a week without Danny around after she accused the Summer Society of being composed mostly of werewolves. Which led to Carmilla taking offence on behalf of all supernatural creatures, shocking even herself.

Werewolves only ate small, fast animals. Carmilla understood why Laura would be worried.

There were no werewolves or anything of the sort running around in the woods. Carmilla checked during her first week at Silas every twenty years. She couldn't deal with that kind of competition for hunting grounds anyway.

Still, the woods were inherently unsettling. The men she could hear trampling around in the distance did little to ease her growing sense of danger.

Carmilla wandered, trying to locate where the Marquis had made her camp. The wind was giving her ears trouble as it whistled between the trees. Various frat boys patrolled around the edges of the woods, far away from the completely isolated areas that Carmilla presumed Laura to be hiding. There was no way she would camp too close to the barrier, and staying too close to the Lodge seemed more suicidal than even a vampire hunter should manage.

The crackling of fire was absent, which worried her. How could Laura possibly be warm without a fire? There wasn't any thermal anything in their current personas, Laura might be literally freezing to death without Carmilla or Danny there to stop her on one of her stupid, ridiculous crusades.

Carmilla stopped dead.

Laura going after a vampire she suspected of legitimate crimes beyond 'being a vampire' wasn't especially unfamiliar to Carmilla's thoughts. She'd been tied up for over a week during one of Laura's crusades. Now that she was thinking about it, Danny going super over-protective towards a threat against someone she was interested in wasn't outside the realm of possibility.

"You lost, little girl?" Male, behind her. No weapon drawn. Not exactly a stranger, despite her best efforts.

Carmilla rolled her eyes and very much didn't stomp her heel in frustration. Did no one understand how much of a threat a vampire is to a normal human? It took a while, but even Danny fucking Lawrence got it through her thick skull eventually.

One of the frat boys responsible for bring the totally legal drugs to parties. He continually hit on Carmilla, finding her especially attractive because of the supposed effects of having blood drained. She understood, certain people liked being food for vampires. Odd, but not the weirdest thing she'd ever come across.

With no weapon, he was no trouble. She was in front of him and breaking his jaw before he properly registered that the little girl he found was the feared vampire they were all hunting. Idiot boy fell to the ground. Carmilla left him. If he froze, then it wasn't her problem. The curse should keep him away from an unimportant death. No power in those. Rituals were rituals for a reason, they enhanced things.

Carmilla moved on, slinking through the forest in search of, for the first time in her entire long life, a greater concentration of young males. With more men, there would be more chance of finding the Marquis. Carmilla didn't like not being at full strength. She could normally pinpoint Laura and Danny anywhere on campus. As it stood, Carmilla couldn't tell where the hell Laura was and could only find Danny because of the scent of blood clung to her injured body. Carmilla would never admit that she only noticed because she was hungry.

The smell of a week's worth of sweat hung in the air. Carmilla figured she had to be getting close to her destination if the uglier side of a pack of frat boys was starting to assault her senses.

She heard footsteps. Off to her left and relatively close. It was a gift.

Carmilla flattened herself against a tree and carefully peered around to get a good look at whoever she was considering beating for information. Idly, she wondered if straight up killing someone would jolt the curse into breaking. There had to be one of the frat boys the world could live without, right?

She only cared about a select few people at Silas and at least two of them were on Team Marquis.

"Wrong place, bud," she whispered, finally catching sight of the poor boy. He didn't notice her, he never noticed her and that was mostly not his own fault. Carmilla blended in with the dark trees and the night kept his vision at a minimum. Poor bastard didn't stand a chance against her superior senses and abilities. He was only human.

Maybe Carmilla didn't hate the big lug quite as much as she once did. Maybe she never actually wanted to kill him as his blood smelled terrible and he never seemed to pose a real threat to Laura.

Maybe she was kind of considering quietly doing away with his imposing form despite this. In her cold mental equation, Kirsch was the only one she was willing to lose. If dealing such a massive blow to the Marquis would break the curse by sending her slinking off past the barrier in retreat and therefore guarantee Carmilla and both of her girlfriend's survival, Carmilla couldn't not consider it as an option.

They were in the woods during the darkest part of the night. He was out patrolling alone, probably checking on the damn barrier for outside threats, and couldn't have been more of a target if he were wearing an actual red shirt.

He hadn't spotted her yet, but the night wasn't total darkness and her proximity to his various silver weapons would force her to move from her careful concealment sooner rather than later. She would have to take him by surprise if she was going to kill him.

If she was going to kill him. If she did it right, absolutely no one would have to know that she was the one who did it. Not Laura, not Danny, not the ginger twins nor the man in the machine. None of them would know, she could probably squash the guilt down into the deepest depths of her moral compass. A deep pit that could store a genocide if she needed it to.

A gift from Mother.

“That would be a bad idea, monster,” came a voice from the other side of Kirsch. Carmilla didn’t hear the horse, too focused on her careful stalking of the big dolt to notice. Carmilla squinted to get a better look at the Marquis, figuring that it would be a waste of her time if she didn’t at least take the time to check on Laura’s wellbeing while she was here. Of course, she didn’t quite expect her lover to arrive quite so quickly or abruptly.

Kirsch nearly fell over himself trying to look at first the origins of his master’s voice and then where she had seen the horrible vampire menace. The Marquis rode her overly large horse into the clearing poor Kirsch was standing in, glaring directly at Carmilla. Carmilla held her shoulders back and kept her expression neutral as she joined the pair on the open ground. In hindsight, Carmilla would realise how idiotic it was to meet a woman on horseback out in the open.

Carmilla stared at the Marquis de Hollis as she sat upon her literal high horse. "You are much more threatening up there, Cupcake, you know that?"

The Marquis faltered in her steeled glare for an almost non-existent moment. "The undead tend to be odd of mind, don't you think, Mister Kirsch?"

Carmilla rolled her eyes as the idiot boy nodded eagerly. Quick to please his masters, just like always. More of a dog than Danny any day.

"Go," she ordered her right hand man in low tones. Kirsch looked like he was going to argue, yet decided against it when the Marquis drew her heavy cavalry sabre from her hip. It glimmered in the moon's light, delicate flowers inlaid on the blade in silver. Carmilla involuntarily flinched backwards, her arm throbbed and a sudden rage for the loss of Laura's yellow pillow flared inside of her heart.

Kirsch jogged off into the woods, presumably in the direction of the Marquis' camp. The Marquis kept her eyes trained on Carmilla, like the vampire was the threat in this situation. Carmilla was barely past peak human conditioning due to the curse sapping her strength and powers, woman on horseback would probably pulverise her right now. And that was before the silver of the sword got started.

"Is this the part where you pick on someone more your own size?" Carmilla taunted. The Marquis huffed, and lowered her sabre to aim directly at Carmilla's heart. "Are you going to fight Baronet Rapier with that thing? Can you even swing it?"

"Silence, beast," the Marquis demanded quietly, her easy confidence actually stopping Carmilla's next thought. She reminded herself for possibly the millionth time over the last week that she would never ever fuck with Laura again after all this was said and done. "I may not have won as many duels as the vaunted Baronet. I have killed seven of your kind with this sabre, and I feel that's experience enough for a little girl who thinks she's a warrior."

"Sweetie, you will never, ever get to call any adult person little, okay? You just need to accept that and move on," Carmilla gently mocked the Marquis, delighting in the tinge of red anger upon her cheeks. "Maybe go find a child to terrorise?"

"Are you mad, or suicidal?" Laura's confused face was always adorable. The Marquis asked her question with pure disbelief.

Carmilla smirked. "Do you know what you look like naked, or does the bullshit religious crap you're spouting stop that kind of thing from happening?"

The Marquis spluttered. "I am going to send you to the burning pits of hell!"

"Well I am going there anyway dear," Carmilla replied flippantly. "Now if you could please get on with attempting to send me there more directly? I have things to do now that I know you're okay."

Laura's heels dug into the sides of her horse and her sword was raised, poised to add Carmilla's head to her collection.

Carmilla was surprisingly calm as Laura's murder-face charged towards her, the threat of death did almost nothing to alarm her, just a gentle pulse of adrenaline that barely registered.

She knew the horse would crush her, the sword would kill her and Laura would be left with the memory of murdering one of her girlfriends. That would shatter Laura, brave as she tended to be.

Danny was different. Killing someone was something she had experience with, though murdering Laura would probably complicate the situation somewhat. Still, horse, sword, bad.

Carmilla took a deep breath. Annoyingly, the horse was probably faster than her in her current condition. Running was right out. Stand and fight an angry Marquis and her clearly compensatory horse charging at full tilt.

She was suddenly struck with a profound thankfulness for her own childhood, rare as these moments were. This would be significantly worse if she was a horse girl like Laura. She'd probably die rather than going through with her own survival plan.

Carmilla dug her toes into the hard dirt and took off directly at the Marquis and her horse. If Laura was shocked by the vampire running directly towards her death, it didn't show on her face. Carmilla kept one eye on the sword that the Marquis couldn't possibly swing all that fast, and the other on keeping track of the movement of the horse's legs. She matched her pace to the rhythm of its stride, and focused on its front right knee.

The Marquis swung the weighted cavalry sabre around her body, moving the heavy blade with an ease that unsettled Carmilla.

She tensed her arm in response, making it rock solid and ducking below the lowest point of the Marquis' swing. Carmilla threw her arm out as she felt the burning of the silver blade slice through some of her hair. She connected with the horse's knee, nearly snapping her forearm taking out its leg.

The Marquis gave an undignified yelp as her horse tumbled forwards from beneath her, sending her flying across the clearing. Carmilla gave a moment of pause to the horse which would now be put down and winced as she heard a soft crack and a groan of pain coming from wherever Laura landed behind her.

"You vile, unholy beast!" Carmilla smirked at the Marquis' screaming. For a full second she was able to disassociate her love for Laura from the woman behind her, letting the rush of victory wash over her entire body. Then the guilt came crashing back. Her wheezing breathing indicated to Carmilla that she’d hurt the Marquis’ ribs, which hopefully would put Laura and Danny on equal footing with their respective injuries.

"I presume you're still alive?" Carmilla called back, not turning to face the fallen woman. She'd gotten what she came for, Laura was still alive and relatively well and that was more than enough for Carmilla. "Now you and my dear protector are even, Little One! I call this a fair fight!"

The Marquis clanked and swore as she freed herself from underneath the horse. Carmilla spared a quick, faster than human perception glance behind her as she walked off. Taking stock of poor Laura's injuries. Small hands covered with shining new gloves grasped gingerly at his injured ribs, and she limped noticeably as she stumbled backwards away from the horse and the vampire who felled it.

Carmilla didn't catch the begrudging look of awe spreading across the Marquis' face, nor the brief flash of uncertain fear. Vampires weren't so flippant when faced with near-certain death where she came from. This one was intriguing.

 

* * *

 

 

Ser Danny had been firm in her distaste for Carmilla leaving the Hunting Lodge. Carmilla understood, the poor thing still most likely had an image of Carmilla in her head as some helpless waif who needed saving all the time. She knew first hand that such assumptions took some time to dislodge themselves from inside Danny Lawrence’s brain.

"You never gave me a good enough reason, you know," Carmilla murmured idly as she sat by Ser Danny's bed for the second night. She had one of Ser Danny's many books open against her legs. Her eyes scanned the pages, not really reading the words though she had read the book before. Something about spies. It didn't mesh with Danny's usual grand adventures. But whatever, Carmilla wasn't one to judge by literary taste.

Her nose scrunched up in disgust at her own internal lies. Carmilla spent hours ranting about how terrible Perry's paperbacks were, and how she was rotting away her brain by reading them.

"Good enough reason for what?" Ser Danny peered at her with wide questioning eyes. Carmilla didn't look up from her book, pretending to be engrossed in whatever the man with the silly name was doing and whichever caricature was being used as the villain was trying to kill him. She mentally patted herself on the back for not lobbing the damn thing at the fireplace. Then it would be useful.

"For risking your life and the lives of all of your soldiers to save some vampire you've never met. It's not a commonly done thing," Carmilla answered, trying her best to keep the negative tones of her voice out of her words. It wouldn't help her information-gathering if she got the Baronet angry at her just as Perry thought they were getting somewhere with the investigation, at least they had eliminated some possibilities. Ser Danny's head tilted to the side and she whined deep in her chest. She put the papers she was examining down onto the bedside table and folded her arms across her chest.

"I can't be doing this out of the kindness of my big heart?" Ser Danny countered with ease betrayed by the strain in her voice. Carmilla was intimately familiar with that whine, it signalled that Danny Lawrence was uncomfortable with her current situation. Which meant the dear, kind Baronet was lying.

Carmilla almost let her get away with it, almost.

"Bullshit," she accused lightly, and without any malice. Ser Danny tensed up behind her, shifting around on the bed.

"I absolutely am not lying. I am a nice person, really," Ser Danny defended herself. Carmilla snorted. "Not convincing?"

"Not really. I would believe you if I didn't know you," Carmilla explained.

Ser Danny groaned, poking at Carmilla's shoulder with her foot. "I kind of hate you right now."

Carmilla finally turned to look at her dear supposed protector. She would have to tell the Baronet about her crushing blow against the Marquis sooner or later. "Well get ready to love me, Liar," Carmilla said. Ser Danny's confused little face was beyond cute. "The Marquis no longer has a horse and her ribs are fucked."

All joviality disappeared from Ser Danny's body in an instant. "You left the Lodge again?"

Carmilla rolled her eyes, the worrying stopped being tolerable after the first few times. Regular Danny knew when to keep her concerns to herself, this new version would have to be trained.

"I'm safer out there than all of you are! I am a vampire, I took out a horse with my bare damn hands," argued Carmilla, clenching her fists on her knees. "Let's see you or any of the idiots upstairs do that!"

The Baronet seemed suitably chastised. "You killed her horse?"

Not quite the adoring tone of wonder Carmilla was hoping for, but an improvement on the worrying.

"Technically she killed it, or one of her men. All I did was break a leg," she boasted, trying to minimise the impact if Ser Danny was really into horses. Having her protector turn away because she defended herself from a charging beast would be just shy of humiliating. "She nearly decapitated me with that sword. Someone that tiny should not be able to swing that thing."

Ser Danny groaned. Carmilla smiled as long fingers dragged down her face in annoyance. Making Danny go grey as soon as humanly possible was a life goal Carmilla and Laura shared, though Carmilla had some unsettling thoughts about it in the late hours of the night sometimes. The Baronet kept her hands covering her face as she spoke.

"I was searching for artwork for the Lodge," she started slowly, "and I came across an artist selling unwanted commissions. You know, high class family doesn't like a shade of blue, money dries up, that kind of thing."

Carmilla shrugged her familiarity on the subject, she knew her original mother had every image of her dead daughter shipped off as soon as Carmilla's body was supposedly cold in the ground. She tried not to take it personally, mother was exactly as fragile as the whole family thought Carmilla was, what with her 'condition'.

Ser Danny's wistful grin broke through her embarrassed covering of her face. "There was an old piece, left by a noblewoman to the artist's great-grandfather. A return without demand for repayment, how rare."

Carmilla had never told Danny about her mother. She hadn't told Laura. She most certainly had not written it down anywhere and Mother's cult of many was hunted to extinction. No one knew about Mircalla's mother, absolutely no one. The cold fear rushed through her veins, having something about herself exposed that she didn't want know burning with icy fire. Ser Danny didn't give her the moment to herself to recover.

"A girl, probably a daughter or ward, who could have been spectacular," Ser Danny tailed off, the adoring tone of wonder finally kicking in too late for Carmilla to appreciate it. "She was distant, even in oil. Like she would claw her way out of the painting itself if only she had claws."

Carmilla cleared her throat, for once because she could barely breath around the giant lump that arose suddenly. "An uncomfortable child, nothing new."

With an undignified snort, Ser Danny continued, "more like an animal trapped inside a cage. Tied down, back broken, made to heel. It disgusted me to see such potential ruined by," she stopped to frown at the missing piece of her story, "whatever was wrong."

Carmilla wondered if Ser Danny could handle being told she belonged in an asylum for staring at Carmilla like she did, because she clearly hadn't ever been dissuaded from her preferences. She'd want claws too.

"I didn't buy it, the girl didn't want the painting so it shouldn't be paid for twice." Ser Danny rearranged herself into a more comfortable position. "Three years later, and there's a vampire hunter in town. I've always thought vampires and werewolves and the like were more free, despite being hunted by insipid little worms like the Marquis."

"You had to intervene?" Carmilla asked, because it didn't seem like that's where the Baronet was going with her story. Which struck Carmilla as odd, given her white knight heroics. The reddening she was familiar with appearing didn't assuage her suspicions at all.

"I was curious," came the clarification, preparing a defence in between her words. "I honestly didn't plan on intervening when I broke from my girls."

She carefully didn't look at Carmilla, either guilt or overwhelming emotion. Carmilla couldn't tell.

"There was a crowd, and a stake. The fire was newly lit, so you could still see the woman the grand Marquis had captured and declared a vampire," Ser Danny stopped, her face turning to stone in quiet fury.

"To be fair, in my experience she hasn't tried to kill anyone who wasn't actually a vampire," Carmilla desperately tried to add some levity. Having Ser Danny go at Laura with hatred wouldn't help anything.

"But it was the girl from the painting. Though she was alight with life and freedom despite her restraints," Ser Danny lit up with the memory. Carmilla almost wished she could remember her side of it. "Spectacular, even from a distance."

There it was. The other shoe Carmilla had been waiting for. "You charged through fire and risked the death of yourself and everyone in your service because you saw a pretty girl?"

Ser Danny winced at Carmilla's shouting. "No?" Carmilla glared with the fire of a volcano. "Maybe?"

"You're given so much freedom to roam about the countryside with a band of sisters to prevent you from getting into duels for favours and the like from pretty girls, aren't you?" Carmilla accused. "All lofty ideals of love and courtship?"

Carmilla settled into a manageable position to sleep, satisfied in the Baronet's halted arguments.

The woman belonged in an opera with such superficial reasons for saving her.

 


	16. The Ballroom Blitz

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry again for the wait guys!

On day five of the Marquis’ siege, and with only two days remaining until either Laura or Danny would be dead, the Baronet was finally able to rise from her bed without any kind of assistance. The Summer Society girls took this to be a go signal for squealing, and Carmilla remembered why she didn’t come to the Hunting Lodge all that often. Even when they were old school soldiers, the girls managed to cause an immediate headache to spring forth from behind her eyes. She shuffled her feet awkwardly when Scarlett glared at her, not the usual venom but she figured out what it meant.

‘If she means so much to you, why aren’t you more excited?’

Carmilla cursed at herself, resisting the urge to slap Scarlett’s smug smile from her face. She waited until only Bunny remained in the basement for the relief to wash over her. Bunny pretended not to notice the speed at which Carmilla flew across the room to kneel at Ser Danny’s bedside. Carmilla decided that Bunny was her second favourite Summer Society girl. Bunny went into the chest freezer stored in Danny’s basement to rearrange things aimlessly to appear busy.

“Lady Carmilla,” Ser Danny greeted with little strain in her voice. Carmilla stared at her pale, drawn face, searching for any sign of undue lingering pain. “Are you well?” Carmilla laughed. Ser Danny’s injury teetered between keeping her lethargic and asleep, and bright and more awake than anyone with a healing hole in their chest really should be.

“Am I okay?” Carmilla gently nudged. She laced her fingers together with Ser Danny’s, hoping to convey some level of comfort and sympathy. "You Wonder Woman your way out of a potentially fatal injury and you want to know if I'm okay?"

Ser Danny shrugged. Then winced. Carmilla totally didn't laugh at Bunny's shocked gasp behind her. "What's a 'Wonder Woman'?" Ser Danny asked through tightly clenched teeth.

"She's a warrior princess," Carmilla explained as minimally as she possibly could. "Who fights gods and kings and-"

Ser Danny raised her eyebrows and Bunny went still and silent. Carmilla didn't tend to be confused and flustered around others. It did not settle well with her general image and persona.

"Xena," she corrected quietly, her heart falling as big blue eyes didn't light up with affection at the pet name. Both Ser Danny and Bunny stared at her in confusion. "I meant Xena, not Wonder Woman."

“I don’t know who that is either,” Ser Danny whispered conspiratorially. She held out her hands towards Carmilla, “however you can tell me all about the warrior princess while helping me out of this damn bed.”

“First, she isn’t ginger,” she began, accepting the offered hands and pulling gently. Neither noticed Bunny dashing up the stairs into the Lodge proper, not did they quite catch the rushing gossip throughout the Summer Society.

“A tragedy,” Ser Danny lamented with false sorrow. “Continue.”

Carmilla smiled despite the worry she still held for Ser Danny’s wound. “Ancient Greece, or Rome, depending on the episode and sometimes also Egypt,” she started as Ser Danny faced the daunting task of actually getting dressed.

It was a nice morning, though one filled with historical inaccuracy.

 

* * *

 

 

Arrows embedded themselves into the walls of the Summer Society Hunting Lodge. Exactly none of the Summer Society girls seemed worried by this fact. They sat around in groups, loudly gambling and drinking their afternoon away. Not for the first time, Carmilla found herself wondering how exactly this band of fools managed to suffer zero fatalities over the last five days. The Marquis had moved on to a ranged assault after Carmilla killed her mount and most likely broke her ribs. Carmilla couldn’t exactly blame her for being less than aggressive in her attacks.

Bunny seemed to be regulated to washing the dishes from the small lunch the girls made. Which was suspicious. Carmilla spent years observing this sorority. They did not do small meals. They struggled to restrain themselves to medium sized meals.

The hushed whispers in between their revelry was also somewhat eyebrow raising.

Ser Danny either didn't notice and went about her day worrying over the small war she was currently fighting. Or she did notice and was more than used to her collection of ridiculous human beings. Either way, ignoring them seemed to be the way to go.

Carmilla wandered freely around the Lodge, safe in the security of boarded up windows. Ser Danny insisted on barging all around the Lodge, exuding energy and authority as she worked off her restlessness. Mostly by playing angry army commander at the 'terrible and disgusting' state of her home. She had girls periodically abandoning their games to actually do the tasks she'd assigned them upon rising from her ‘hospital’ bed.

"She gets to lay around for days and when we want a day off, she's up and ready for fucking cleaning." Carmilla listened to Scarlett complain as she aimlessly meandered around the library. Scarlett was tasked with inventory of all the weapons. "The Marquis is going to run out of arrows if she keeps up this pace."

Carmilla's stood up perfectly straight as Ser Danny's laughter filtered through the heavy doors of the library. "She's surrounded by an entire woods full of trees, I'm sure she'll find some more."

Scarlett went silent for a few beats. "Good point." Ser Danny laughed again. "Ready for tonight?"

Carmilla jumped when something metallic clattered loudly to the ground. Ser Danny spluttered and stumbled over her words, pushing out a variety of consonants without any actual words appearing.

"Winter hasn't spoken to you yet?" Scarlett asked slowly. Carmilla pictured with no small amount of pleasure the discomfort on her face. "I felt, not bad, guilty maybe, at my continued poor mood and dispositions towards the vampire."

"You've picked her some flowers and will be presenting them at dinner tonight?" Ser Danny ventured, her joy leaking through her words. "I understand that she's somewhat spoken for, I think."

"Oh fuck," Scarlett swore. "Seriously? Why are we doing this then?"

Carmilla sat against the library doors, careful to not make any noises to alert the women to her presence.

"Doing what?"

"Saving some minor noblewoman! Vampire or not, people tend to do this kind of thing with romantic intent!"

Carmilla stopped the bark of laughter that bubbled up at both Scarlett's incredulous tone and Ser Danny's continued stuttering and spluttering as she struggled to respond. "Who, exactly, do you think has a 'romantic interest' in the Countess?"

"The one who keeps calling her 'Countess' and 'Lady Carmilla', and makes various drooling noises all the damn time," Scarlett responded immediately. If she wasn't such a fractious pain in the neck that was the sole reason Carmilla started to believe Danny's 'I was stuck in a time loop for months' story, Carmilla could see herself liking Scarlett. "Also, just maybe the person in charge."

"Perhaps at first but again, spoken for," insisted Ser Danny. Scarlett sighed and Carmilla was flooded with all of the dislike she generally held for the annoying girl. "Like, really, super spoken for, I think."

"We have done so much work, all for nothing," groaned Scarlett. She audibly flung herself onto the floor against the wall. Ser Danny's head thumped into a different wall. "No need for that, you'll enjoy it anyway and it won't kill either of you."

"Wait, you aren't talking about saving her and keeping her here, are you?"

Scarlett squeaked. Ser Danny breathed out in what Carmilla recognised to be her 'I really don't want to ask but here we are and I have to or someone might die' gesture. Carmilla was familiar with that one, generally Laura’s fault.

"Scarlett," she said slowly, in an overly sweet voice that made Carmilla's skin crawl, "what the fuck are you talking about and how many people do I need to kill?"

"Well," Scarlett drew out the word guiltily, "you know."

"I really don't."

"You'll see?" Scarlett ventured with cowardly hesitance. "Nothing bad, the vampire might even enjoy herself."

Ser Danny sighed. "Figure out where the Marquis has moved her base to today, and I won't punish every last one of you."

Carmilla figured the Baronet wasn't remotely angry, and commended her for using the leverage that Scarlett dropped into her lap.

 

* * *

 

  
Bunny interrupted Carmilla’s designated brooding time, hiding in the bathroom in her converted attic apartment. Carmilla never agreed with Laura’s summation of the time she preferred alone each day out loud, though the fact she insisted on being in the dark had forced her to face certain facts. She also wondered if Bunny had some kind of tracking system implanted underneath her skin. Only Ser Danny was brave enough to enter the least defensible room in the entire Lodge, no one would think Carmilla would voluntarily go back to the comfortable apartment she’d fled in fear of silver arrows. Especially while the building was being treated to a non-stop barrage.

Apparently, Bunny thought Carmilla was suicidally brave.

“I thought an arrow nearly killed you up here?” Bunny asked as her head appeared in the hatch. Carmilla couldn’t muster the energy to glare at her. “Odd place to come and hide.”

Carmilla gestured to the walls around her through the open door. “I don’t know where you were raised, but where I come from we don’t have windows where we bathe.”

Bunny acquiesced, “you have an engagement this evening, and it is requested that you dress appropriately for dancing.”

Bunny was getting far too comfortable in her company, Carmilla would have to fix that later. She gestured to her flimsy shirt and leather pants. “Are these not dancing clothes?”

The radioactive red Bunny’s face went was reward enough even if the cursed woman didn’t get the joke. “No! They are not!”

Carmilla pretended to consider the situation. “Nice dress, heels, that kind of thing?”

Bunny nodded silently.

“Dismissed,” Carmilla said with a wave of her hand. Bunny bolted and Carmilla resumed her brooding until the sun began to fall.

 

* * *

 

  
Carmilla didn't know what to wear. Carmilla had known exactly how she wanted to dress herself every day and for every occasion in her afterlife. Not once had she been flustered by one of the many women she turned her attentions towards, not even Laura Hollis and definitely not Danny Lawrence. She would never live down being nervous around Danny Lawrence, the giant would mock her into next week without a single second thought. Laura was so awkward and flustered on her own that there wasn't enough nervous energy left in all of Styria for Carmilla to channel.

The fluttering in her stomach was absolutely not infatuation. Seriously, she already loved this woman, she shouldn't be behaving like an idiot child interested in the attractive visiting knights and ladies. She was stunned by the array of clothing the Summer Society girls pulled together on such short notice. Very little of the makeshift wardrobe was made of leather which Carmilla was eternally thankful for, all of the leather wasn't especially great for her skin and her general state of comfort. If she was going to be potentially humiliated by the Baronet backing off by the oddity of their situation, she was going to be comfortable.

"Do you need any help, Countess?" Carmilla smiled slightly while dear Bunny couldn't see her, the girl had a certain appeal that was starting to grow on her despite Carmilla's better judgement regarding fragile humans. She was already up to between two and six people she cared about, and she doubted she could handle anyone else joining the party. Especially not after the incident with the Alchemy Club that resulted with Danny in handcuffs and Laura in tears for a solid week. Others were not welcome as far as Carmilla was concerned, no matter how adorable she found Bunny. Carmilla wondered if Bunny had an actual name, and decided to use it as soon as the girl grew enough of a backbone to correct Carmilla.

She wasn't holding her breath.

"Scarlett's pacing upstairs," observed Carmilla, less of a question though Bunny clearly took it as one. The girl stepped further into Carmilla's makeshift dressing room that she didn't really want or need. A sectioned off portion of Ser Danny’s basement wasn’t exactly luxurious though she appreciated the gesture.

"She's concerned that tonight won't go well, this was all her idea," Bunny explained quickly, tripping over her words. Carmilla stopped toying with her hair and spun to face the girl, startling her slightly. "She mostly cares about 'getting the boss laid for once', so don't think she's suddenly all happy and chummy with you."

Carmilla took offence to that, but let it slide, knowing that she was going slowly mad without either of her girls to hold at night. After the initial nightmares featuring the Captain, Carmilla didn't want Laura to be too close to her at night, lest another nightmare take hold and turn her mind against both of her girlfriends', leaving her with nothing and no one. Carmilla wasn't under any delusions that any of their mutual friends would take her side in any kind of break up. Danny might only sway Kirsch but it was still more than the everyone else Laura seemed to command with little more than her dominant personality. Perry, maybe, would take some kind of materialistic responsibility. Carmilla wouldn’t let her jeopardise her relationship with LaFontaine, there was bound to be other humans she liked in the whole wide world.

"Yes, well that is why the dear Baronet deigned to save my poor little life, because she wants to," Carmilla paused to think, considering the best way to phrase the sentiment delicately, "fuck me into next week, or something similar."

Bunny went shades of red the human eye couldn't perceive. "I'm sure that's not why she-"

"That's why she saved me, no other reason," Carmilla cute her off. "I understand, I am a very attractive woman. I had suitors lining up out the door when I was alive, though I apparently had to die to become ‘spectacular’."

Bunny sighed with what Carmilla presumed to be some kind of romanticism. "Did you like any of them?"

Carmilla rolled her eyes, thought Bunny didn't seem to notice. "No, they were all bravado drenched little boys and disgusting old men after a child. I preferred by early death to a life consigned to one of them."

Bunny swore quietly under her breath. "That sounds horrible."

Carmilla shrugged. "I died. And got away from it, better things to do."

Instead of bothering her further about her past, Bunny changed gears to the reason she came down the stairs in the first place. “Do you need help with your outfit for the evening, Countess?”

She squirmed and shifted her weight from one foot to the other, fidgeting so much that Carmilla wanted to reach out and grab her wrists to keep her still. “If you promise to stop hovering and tell me exactly what your idiot Sister has planned, then yes you may help me dress.”

Bunny squealed and jumped up and down. Carmilla regretted this choice already.

 

* * *

 

  
Together, Carmilla and Bunny put together an outfit that wouldn’t scandalise the general population of the Lodge yet would still allure the Baronet suitably. Bunny informed her that they had converted the largest room in the Lodge to accommodate Scarlett’s stupid yet sweet plan. That was sure to be a pain if it didn’t revert after Carmilla figured out how to break them all out of their prison.

Walking to the dining room never seemed to take so long before. Her first real date with Laura didn’t leave her nervous, but mostly because she had a thousand and one Red Riding Hood jokes to make at Laura’s expense. Yet here stood the suspiciously heavy door and Carmilla couldn’t gather the courage to push them open.

Carmilla recognised the music, though she couldn’t place a name to it if asked. Something grand and dramatic, meant to be performed in a grand opera Carmilla had no time for. Even with functionally eternal life, she couldn’t find the motivation to seek out experiences that she knew she would love.

Ser Danny stood slumped against the opposite wall, chatting quietly with Scarlett near the other doors. She stopped still when her eyes met Carmilla. The grin was instantaneous and it lit up the whole room. Carmilla took in her obviously official military uniform and took the familiar hit to the guts. Danny would be a military woman if she lived out the week, and Carmilla was probably needlessly worried about the whole idea.

Scarlett scurried from the room, loudly slamming the door behind her. Carmilla wondered where the music was coming from, but set the thought aside as Ser Danny approached her, anxious energy crackling off every inch of her exposed skin. However little there was.

“Countess,” she greeted, bowing with surprising composure. “I hope you can dance?”

Carmilla glared, “such little faith in me.”

Ser Danny went red in the ears, which Carmilla planned to happen a lot during the night if she was going to be forced into such a cumbersome dress and eavesdropped on by seemingly the entire Summer Society at the closed doors of the dining hall. Her shiny boots caught Carmilla’s eye as she slowly made her way to stand in front of her, then she was stuck with pulling her eyes all the way up the Baronet’s body. The other woman was bright red all over by the time Carmilla made contact.

“Good evening,” she greeted slowly, like she was trying not to stutter. “How was your day?”

What Scarlett was trying to achieve with this plan struck Carmilla as she remembered trying to teach Laura and her three left feet how to waltz properly. Carmilla rolled her eyes, immediately apologetic as the Baronet’s timidly excited face dropped. A wide grin forced it’s way onto Carmilla’s face, trying to reassure the woman as best she could.

“My day was a bundle of nerves over what your little minion could possibly have planned for us,” she answered smoothly, attempting to keep her tone light and airy. “Though your uniform is very dashing.”

Ser Danny rubbed the back of her neck with even more embarrassment, rocking back and forth on her feet. Carmilla forced herself to not find the motions cute, someone had to keep a level head and people from the Baronet’s time period couldn’t do that in a dancing situation. Carmilla had seen it, lived it, and had no desire to return to it. Visits were nice, and Laura was always adorable trying to keep pace, but to do this seriously, with the mindset of the time would last at most an hour before Carmilla wanted to kill someone. Ser Danny was lucky that her uniform was all knight in shining armour, and shiny. Carmilla liked Danny in shiny clothes.

“Thank you, Countess.” Ser Danny regained a sliver of her composure and offered a hand to Carmilla. The music switched to something slightly less operatic, and Carmilla wondered if the weird abundance of technology extended to the musical systems the Hunting Lodge had built into the walls. “Shall we?”

Sighing, Carmilla took the outstretched hand, considering the reality of having to be led for once. She could always try to lead the Baronet despite their height differences and the military uniform glaringly informing her of her role during this night.

Being used to a small hand on her shoulder, Ser Danny’s much larger hand slipping onto her waist stunned Carmilla into inaction. Ser Danny pulled her gently backward, ensuring that they didn’t fall over by keeping her distance respectable for even the most conservative of onlookers.

Carmilla allowed Ser Danny to lead, much easier than she thought it would be. Though twirling around their tiny dorm room was practically traditional between her and Laura, Carmilla and Danny never did this sort of thing. She could hear how nervous Ser Danny was by her rapid heartbeat. She could also hear most of the Summer Society pressing their ears against the large doors of the dining room. Carmilla rolled her eyes in mild annoyance. Ser Danny noticed.

“Don’t like dancing?” Ser Danny asked. Carmilla felt like she could hear the Baronet’s heart drop. Her long fingers flexed to move away, her hand slipping from Carmilla’s with a shaking hesitance. “We should-”

“No, nothing you did, sweetie,” Carmilla interrupted quickly. She tightened her loose grip on Ser Danny’s hand. Ser Danny’s resulting smile was tense and Carmilla recognised the faraway gleam in her eyes. “I mean it, so stop with the sad eyes.”

Ser Danny stood a little straighter. Carmilla found herself tipping her head back to compensate. “I do not make ‘sad eyes’,” she protested weakly.

Carmilla stifled a giggle. “Oh yes you do.”

“You are mocking me, Lady Carmilla,” Ser Danny figured quickly. Carmilla pulled her partner minutely closer, hoping that the intimacy would placate any genuine hurt. “And are using your wiles to escape my annoyance.”

“Y’know, Danny takes much longer to catch on to my ‘wiles’, I’m impressed.”

Ser Danny sighed, letting her head fall back. It gave Carmilla a grand view of Danny’s expansive neck and entrancing jawline. Unfair, but Carmilla understood the poor thing probably didn’t know what she was doing. The Baronet didn’t strike her as an especially experienced woman. “They are all sitting outside the doors, aren’t they?”

Carmilla smiled, nodded quickly and matching the Baronet’s soft tone. “Oh they haven’t left since I got here. I think they might be taking it in shifts.”

“Privacy is a luxury in my life,” she stated as if it was a concrete fact of the universe. Carmilla was inclined to agree. “Do I get to be alone in your world?”

Ser Danny didn’t sound as enthusiastic as she clearly thought she did. “You hate being alone, you big dumb dog of a woman,” Carmilla told her bluntly. There was no curse in existence that could change Danny Lawrence that fundamentally. “And before you pout, I say that with love.”

The bright red ears returned, always entertaining.

Carmilla focused on her feet, Ser Danny’s over-sized boots providing a unique hazard while dancing that Carmilla hadn’t had to deal with for over three hundred years. The Baronet probably thought she was being subtle when her boots got closer to Carmilla’s much nicer heels. Carmilla felt the closer heat of Ser Danny’s body, and pretended not to notice her partner’s attention to propriety slipping, either on purpose or by a complete and total happy accident.

“How are they playing the music?” Carmilla had to ask, it would bug her forever if she didn’t. “And what is it?”

Ser Danny stared down at her like she was completely insane, or a simpleton. “There’s an electrical system running through the whole Lodge, is it not there in your version?”

Carmilla wanted to argue, to bring up her fascination at her phone and the very concept of remote communication. The restraint came as Ser Danny’s hand shifted from her waist to slide around to the small of her back, tightening her grip, Carmilla couldn’t be mean to her when she was being so brave and forward. Carmilla had learnt over the decades of her life that she had a fairly intimidating personality and demeanour, and that her display of romantic interest was so subtle that it took both Laura and Danny weeks to notice exactly how much she wanted them.

Ser Danny was continuing to show remarkable speed and competence with understanding Carmilla. It was refreshing.

“It’s French, the girls know I enjoy it. Is it to your liking?” Ser Danny’s hopeful voice plucked at Carmilla’s heart, reminding her of Danny’s ‘can we please keep the snake’ pleading. Very convincing, to everyone but Laura. “I can have them change it.”

Carmilla lifted up to the tips of her toes to kiss Ser Danny’s cheek. “I like France as an artistic concept.”

Ser Danny’s chest started to rumble pleasantly, not a purr or a growl, but humming along with the tune Carmilla still couldn’t place despite knowing where it originated. French wasn’t a lot to go on. She leaned her head closer to the Baronet’s chest to better feel the sensations, taking a somewhat proper dance into a much more modern affair. Ser Danny compensated easily.

Then there was sound. Beautiful sound that Carmilla hadn’t heard since she woke on a battlefield. Certainly not springing forth from Danny’s mouth.

She was singing along with the music, a piece Carmilla was entirely unfamiliar with although she identified it as French and sad. Like, actual French, a language Danny Lawrence did not speak, let alone sing.

Danny couldn’t sing to save her life either.

Carmilla stiffened against Ser Danny’s chest as the woman continued to sing with the music, her feet moving with more grace than before, as if following the tune was helping her movements. Daring to glace up at her face, Carmilla took a deep breath and admired the enraptured expression with closed eyes and a soft smile. Ser Danny failed to notice her partner barely moving anymore, and Carmilla thankfully noticed in time. She laid her head back down and allowed herself to be led and serenaded.

Vowing to murder the idiot girls still listening to their leader sing at the door was little more than an idle thought in the back of her mind, though if they interrupted her nice night without trouble it was going to come flying back to the forefront.

Ser Danny held her close and Carmilla forgot about the rest of the world for a while.

 

* * *

 

 

Carmilla’s phone sprung to life as she was getting changed after her night away while still trapped. Her feet kind of hurt and her head was hazy but she was relaxed and relatively happy so she considered not answering. Better judgement won out. She answered the video call and propped the phone up on some books, resuming her careful removal of the formal clothing. “You two had better have something for me, we are on a bit of a time constraint.”

“You are literally taking off an evening gown and you’re moaning about us fucking around?” Perry threw right back into Carmilla’s face. “Seriously?”

Carmilla tried to argue, she did. “Look, these idiots sprung it on me and it would be rude to decline their very generous offer!”

LaFontaine scoffed. “And you’re never, ever rude.” Carmilla did not appreciate the tone. “What offer?”

“I am as rude as the people around me deserve,” she explained with a vicious edge. “You’re so very brave out there where I can’t get to either of you.”

Perry ignored the implied threat in her tone, “why are you in formal attire?”

“I was invited dancing,” Carmilla said shortly, leaving what she thought was no room for argument. “And a lady of my standing does not waltz and tell.”

“Ha!” LaFontaine slammed shut the heavy tome in front of them. “Isn’t it cheating to be screwing around like that with this person who doesn’t really exist?”

Carmilla’s brain took a moment to decide which part of the questioning accusation to be offended at first. Perry fell on her side, glaring at her partner without a moment’s thought.

“By ‘dancing’, for once I mean actual dancing, and I have no intentions of corrupting the little soldier girl,” she hissed, wishing she wasn’t reliant on these two for all of her information. They weren’t even that much help, the not knowing had dragged on far too long for Carmilla’s liking. She distracted herself from the bubbling rage by kicking her borrowed heels across the Baronet’s basement and set to work undoing all of the excess fastening’s on her dress. Why did professional soldiers have this kind of outfit just lying around?

The dressed slipped down her chest and she was bare but for her strapless bra down to her hips. The dress caught there and she figured being fully dressed as much as possible in sight of the gingers was the best course of action.

“Shouldn’t that have healed by now?” Perry asked suddenly as Carmilla turned away to find a shirt. Carmilla froze, fingers instinctively flying from her hip to the ugly greening slash across her side. She’d forgotten it was there, it didn’t even hurt or anything, easily forgettable.

“And why is it green?” LaFontaine chimed in, stating the obvious as ever.

Carmilla turned slowly to face her phone. “How do you know about it?”

Perry shrugged while LaFontaine seemed just as interested as Carmilla in the answer. “You had it when Kirsch and I came to get you for the ‘vampire burning’. I just thought you hurt yourself after another bad dream,” she rushed to explain all in one breath.

“It’s green. Green is bad,” stated LaFontaine like they were talking to children. “How did you not think to mention that you have a rotting wound on your side?”

Carmilla felt the weight on her chest again, the pressure to be better, to be superhuman. “I can’t exactly see it,” she answered, making it clear that she was done with the questions for the night. “And it doesn’t hurt?”

“It’s green!” LaFontaine shouted, getting up from their chair to pace around their apartment in the background of Carmilla’s view. Perry’s face was the very picture of concern. Carmilla swallowed through the sudden lump in her throat, taking deep breaths and rubbing her wrist.

“I’m a vampire, we have weird shit happening sometimes. Do people turn into giant panthers? I don’t think so,” she couldn’t stop the whining from edging into her voice.

LaFontaine didn’t notice the shift in tone, but Perry was right on top of it. “We will see what we can dig up, you get some rest and maybe get someone to patch you up?”

Young lady, Carmilla added, stopping the smile threatening to break out dead in its tracks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look! Plot!
> 
> So just quietly: I'm kind of done writing this? Which is wild, it's 90,000 words long and I'm editing the rest of it now while writing for Camp NaNoWriMo. That might take a while.
> 
> As always, comment if you liked it, or hated it, or want me to write something else.


	17. The Proposal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “No, nearly getting yourself killed via vampire is how you express affection,” Carmilla mocked barely above a whisper, “it’d be a shame to break from tradition now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I wrote a bodyswap story ages ago...

"Why did you say the Baronet is so sure she can win?" Perry asked, her voice distant. LaFontaine's head tilted to the side as they considered this strange quirk to the curse. It was out of left field, even for Silas.

"Magic doesn't really fit in with the witch hunt," LaFontaine muttered under their breath. They tapped at their laptop, concern and confusion covering their face.

Carmilla stopped her pacing, struggling to recall exactly what Ser Danny had explained on her first morning under curse conditions. Either something about her sword being magic or the connection she shared with it being special. Carmilla would have to ask her, which would only go excellently.

Ser Danny spent her entire morning behaving like a dictator towards the girls, shouting at them for every little mistake. She'd spent a full ten minutes blasting Winter for not wearing her sword perfectly upon her hip. Carmilla usually found Danny's general nervousness cute and exploitable for her own enjoyment. Ser Danny took care of her restless mind and heart by exploding at the people around her.

"I barely remember, the mood's all kinds of tense out here, and it isn’t getting any better," she explained to the ginger twins, carefully masking her own racing nerves. Any kind of relaxation night the girls of the Summer Society cooked up, cursed or not, was bound to end up interesting if not all out catastrophic, Carmilla was proud of herself and the Baronet for not dipping into catastrophic territory. "I had a date last night."

Two ginger-topped heads appeared in their full pale glory, finally taking their attentions away from their research. "With who?"

Carmilla rolled her eyes at Perry's question. "Scarlett, we’ve decided to elope."

For nearly a full second, both Perry and LaFontaine seemed to seriously consider her words as absolute truth. Carmilla exhaled some of her bouncing nerves into a mocking smile. Perry rolled her eyes, while LaFontaine blinked twice and annoyingly didn't react at all to Carmilla's brilliance.

“She means the ‘dancing’, right?” LaFontaine sought clarification from Perry. Perry nodded, still completely unamused by Carmilla.

Laura would have found it funny.

"How religious does she seem?" LaFontaine asked, moving right along without another moment's pause. "Evil Laura, I mean? Presumably Lawrence isn't exactly Catholic, what with the vampire and the lying with women proclivities."

Perry slapped them on the arm with the back of her hand. “LaFontaine! Just because Carmilla went on a date with the woman doesn’t mean they slept together!”

“Yeah!” Carmilla agreed with higher spirits than before. “I am a lady, thank you very much!”

Neither Perry nor LaFontaine seemed convinced.

“Seriously! Nothing happened!”

LaFontaine shrugged, “if you say so. Now, why does Danny think she’ll win? Has she not met Laura yet?”

Carmilla wanted to reach through the screen and strangle them, until Ser Danny’s justification fluttered around her mind. “She said she couldn’t lose against Laura with the sword.”

Two ginger heads snapped up to stare at her. Carmilla had never been so self-conscious in her entire three centuries of her life. They were looking at her like she was an idiot. Never through all their years of stopping her romance and seduction games had Carmilla wanted to strangle the two of them more.

“Before, you said it was a prophecy or something an Oracle passed along to chivalry-edition Danny,” LaFontaine seethed through their teeth. Perry patten them on the arm, trying to sooth the research frustration her longterm partner was experiencing with this particular case. “Please, do tell us of this sword.”

Carmilla was dumbfounded. They were kidding, right? “It’s the same sword she’s had literally for as long as our relationship has existed in a romantic way,” she explained as if to a pair of idiot children. Which was increasingly seeming more and more likely. “Found it in the Library? About this big,” she gestured roughly how long the rapier was.

They glanced at each other. LaFontaine asked the next no doubt stupid question. “And she still has that with her despite basically everything else about everyone else changing completely?”

Well when they said it like that, it made Carmilla sound stupid. “I still have my fucking phone, you imbeciles, and I don’t know if you’ve noticed but the power’s on and there’s goddamn electric lighting! Excuse me if I overlook that Danny has her sword, there’s been a lot going on around here!”

Carmilla breathed heavily, calming herself back down so she didn’t say something she would regret. There was silence for several minutes as Carmilla settled, Perry was overcome with a sudden urge to clean, and LaFontaine tapped away on their laptop as casually as possible after being berated by a pissed off and frustrated vampire.

“That night you two spent in the Library,” LaFontaine started, keeping their tone casual and aloof as if they weren’t clearly interested in Carmilla’s reactions, “why exactly did Danny decide she wanted a souvenir?”

Carmilla took her time to respond, getting the story straight in her head before she started to speak.

 

* * *

 

 

Carmilla remembered the jealous pricking on the back of her neck. She did not think the word 'hackles' or the raising of them, Laura would never let her live that kind of comparison down. Like, ever. Carmilla would still be suffering underneath the mocking more than three years later.

However the jealousy was there, and it was strong.

She agreed to this, a sanctioned war with the Amazon for Laura. The Cupcake wanted them both, so Carmilla pulled out her best claws and hissed at the giant invader into her life with Laura, ready to kill to keep Laura hers. Judging by Lawrence's racing heart every time she was around Carmilla, the vampire easily deduced that she was right there with her on the glorious war for Laura front. Opposite sides, but the same general idea.

Carmilla presumed this little jaunt into the Silas Library to be nothing more than an excuse to get them both away from Laura so they could finally have it out. Danny, with her axe slung over her shoulder and a damn skip in her step, seemed to have other ideas. She hadn't so much as frowned in Carmilla's direction for the entire hour they spent wandering around the entrance area of the Library. It was beginning to grate unpleasantly on Carmilla's already on-fire nerves. If they could just get to the fighting, everything would be okay, everything would be normal.

"How far in do you want to go?" Danny asked. Carmilla's legs twitched, demanding to spring into the air in shock. An hour of silence and that's what Xena decides to break it with? "I have a good idea of how far Laura and LaFontaine went in for the werewolf thing, so I think we should aim to get a little bit further."

Danny paused, her attention clearly lost in thought while Carmilla stumbled along beside her fighting down the absurdity of the situation. Did someone forget to inform Jolly Red that this was fight night? Carmilla knew she should have stated her intentions going into this.

"It has to end somewhere, right?"

Carmilla swallowed the lump that jumped to her throat. "What does?"

Danny gave no indication that she noticed the strain in Carmilla's voice nor the confusion evident on her face. All the giant young woman did was grin with apparent amusement and tilt her head like she had no idea what the heck Carmilla could possibly mean.

Carmilla figured Danny meant their mutual agreement with regards to Laura had to end somewhere. Sure, they said they were 'girlfriends' with each other just as much as they were with Laura, but Carmilla could smell the discomfort rolling off Danny every time it came up.

"The Library, Carmilla, you know? Why we're down here?" Danny waved a distractingly long arm across the Library in front of them. "Discovering the secrets of Silas while spending some actual time alone together!"

Carmilla decided that Jolly Red had hit her head. They were here so the inevitable winner could reasonably claim that the Library was responsible for the murder. Only possible explanation, there was no way Danny freaking Lawrence was this calm about their inevitable duel to the death for Laura.

"Oh, is that what we're doing now?" Carmilla challenged, her words edged with poison. Danny stopped and closed her eyes so tightly that she aged half a decade in a moment. Carmilla's memory supplied several past instances of this gesture clearly indicating that Xena was beyond done with whatever juvenile stupidity was going on around her.

Danny sighed and visibly braced herself. "Alright, I'll bite, why are we doing this, Carmilla?"

Danny also picked up the odd habit of using Carmilla's actual name over the last hour, which she was sure could only be a distraction disguised as familiarity.

"We are both far too selfish to share," Carmilla carefully began her explanation of the obvious. Danny opened her eyes far enough to stare at Carmilla with guilt-rending doubt. "Neither of us are the paragons Laura seems to see in us."

Danny shrugged in agreement and found a dusty old work table to perch herself upon after throwing down her axe without a hint of hesitance. Carmilla didn't groan out her annoyance, but wished that Danny would start to make sense sooner rather than later. Maybe all she needed was a little prompting.

"You're going to need that if you plan on surviving the night," she threatened. Danny smirked, which only infuriated Carmilla further.

"Is there seriously anything down here more threatening than you, Carmilla?"

Carmilla wanted to scream. She didn't, that would amount to losing. Danny may have risked lycanthropy for Laura, but Carmilla leapt into the all-powerful light of a demigod, and that felt like it held a little more weight to the vampire. Danny wasn't winning.

"That is my point, Red," she drawled, letting her intentions bleed into her words. Submit, or die. "So you might want to arm yourself."

Danny folded her arms, face expressionless yet clearly unimpressed.

"For fuck's sake, you stupid vampire."

Carmilla startled at the harsh tone, bristling immediately . "You come down into the Styrian answer to actual literal Hell with a monster you intend to kill for the maiden fair, and I'm the stupid one?"

Danny's jaw dropped. Carmilla took some small satisfaction in the hurt in Danny's eyes. The disbelief.

"Oh," whispered Danny. Carmilla barely heard it. Damn Xena looked like she was about to cry. "I-"

Danny couldn't finish, picking up her axe and turning away from Carmilla. She focused on something shiny off in the distance as cold sweat prickled at Carmilla's spine.

Carmilla couldn't breathe.

Danny threw the axe, screaming. It embedded itself in three books sitting unused on a shelf. Carmilla tripped over her own feet moving backward out of fear.

"You are too selfish to share Laura, and so am I!" Carmilla screamed, someone had to be realistic about this, their little experiment had gone on far too long already. Carmilla could be the mature one. "So, rather than make her choose again-"

"One of us is 'mysteriously eaten by the Library' right?"

Carmilla might not even have to fight the woman before her, Lawrence seemed to have given up before the fight started.

"That is the plan," Carmilla mocked her clear naivety. "Changed your mind?"

Danny was silent for an age.

Carmilla's body itched to change, to grow claws and fangs and more powerful muscles to tear through the threat that wasn't threatening.

"Oh darling," Danny snarled, "you are vastly underestimating how selfish I am being right now."

"Good," Carmilla growled back, joyous that the fluttering energy through her body would finally have an outlet. "I'll be nice, let you die with a sword in your hand."

Danny looked back to the shiny object that caught her attention previously, scrutinising it carefully. She seemed to hold her breath and Carmilla sensed something pass between woman and weapon. A terrifying notion of 'fuck, what if it's silver-plated dumb ass?' fluttered through Carmilla's mind.

Danny shaking herself free of whatever took her knocked Carmilla out of her worry. Danny peered through a mussed curtain of hair at Carmilla.

"Is-" Danny paused to run both hands through her hair. "Is that seriously why you think we're down here?"

Danny sounded done. Defeated.

"We are being selfish in a way that won't hurt Laura too badly," Carmilla struggled to explain the rationalisation she thought they were on the same page about. Apparently not. "Isn't that better?"

Danny gaped at her. "You actually want to kill me?"

A cannonball slammed into Carmilla's gut, winding her. Danny sounded worse than she did when Laura broke her heart the first time. She suddenly didn't understand how Laura could shoulder the guilt of making that kind of noise come out of Danny Lawrence.

"I-"

Danny was in front of her faster than even Carmilla could react. One hand delicately placed on Carmilla's hip, the other firmly grasping her jaw. Carmilla couldn't move.

"See, I'm down here to be selfish," she whispered, "really selfish."

Carmilla let herself be pulled upwards into a quick kiss. "Oh."

Danny kept her eyes closed as they pulled back. "I'm down here to spend some time with a pretty girl I like, though I’m starting to think dinner and a movie might be a clearer way to state my intentions.”

“No, nearly getting yourself killed via vampire is how you express affection,” Carmilla mocked barely above a whisper, “it’d be a shame to break from tradition now.”

Danny backed away, her ears flaring red with embarrassment. She pointedly focused on the books her axe was embedded in, and occupied all of her attention with pulling it free. “Are this things going to freak out and hit us with a mess of magic we have no idea how to deal with?”

Carmilla gave the books a cursory examination. “Only if there’s chanting of some kind.”

Danny prised the axe free, taking Carmilla at her word. “Remind me to grab that,” she gestured to the shiny weapon she’d been eyeing, “before we leave in the morning.”

“Laura will thank me if I keep you away from sharp objects, so remember for yourself.”

“Or will you be giving me a way to protect myself during future Library-diving expeditions?”

Carmilla sighed. “You can get it the next time we come down, we might need to run out of here pretty damn fast.”

 

* * *

 

 

  
“We went back for it a month later, and she could not take her eyes off it,” Carmilla finished her story to the rapt attentions of Perry and LaFontaine.

“You were going to kill her!” Perry cracked their collective silence first. “Seriously?”

“Not important, Per,” LaFontaine smoothly halted any other outbursts. “So it called to her, the sword?”

“Attempted murder is always important!”

Carmilla didn’t feel certain, “maybe it was just shiny and she likes pretty swords?”

“Well she likes pretty girls so,” Perry muttered under her breath.

LaFontaine glared hard at Perry, causing her to get really interested in her nervous cleaning yet again. “I don’t think weaponry hidden in the Silas Library is picked up because it’s freaking pretty.”

Carmilla lifted her hands in defeat. “I am dating two really weird humans, it is not ridiculous to think Xena would pick up something because it’s shiny,” she argued, getting more defensive by every passing word. “You two follow that line of thought, I need a damn break from you people.”

Carmilla silenced their annoyed replies and stuffed her phone under Ser Danny’s pillows. Considering actually doing something productive with the withered remains of her day, Carmilla decided against it, diving under the covers to wrap herself in her girlfriend’s scent. Anything to detox from the gingers and their judgement over her detective skills.

 

* * *

 

 

Carmilla had a nice nap. There was rarely a time in her life that glorious short stretches of sleep didn’t fix whatever was wrong with her, she’d shrugged off a bullet once after less than an hour of rest. When she was woken up, she wasn’t even angry.

“I have a bad idea,” Ser Danny piped up from the door to her normal self’s basement apartment. “And you will not like it,” she continued as her boots fell loudly on the stone steps. Carmilla raised her head from its place between Danny’s pillows, raising her eyebrows to prompt the Baronet into continuing. “The Marquis claims that you’re a soulless evil, seductress of a witch-vampire, correct?”

Carmilla snorted the Baronet’s impression of the Marquis’ religious ramblings, and sat up against the wall Danny had her bed pushed up against. Ser Danny reached the bottom of the stairs and took in the room as if she had never been down here before. For all Carmilla knew, she hadn’t. The Baronet’s base might not even have a basement in it, let alone one she lived in part time. Carmilla definitely knew Ser Danny didn’t spend most of her nights curled up into Carmilla on a bed that really was too small for both of them, with Laura there making the whole exercise just ridiculous.

“She seems to think so, she makes a couple of good points there,” Carmilla replied, grinning in her most predatory fashion in the hopes of making the Baronet blush again. She was like Danny in the early months of their relationship when Laura was honestly confused as to why one of her girlfriends seemed to be rebuffing her physical advances. All innocent and virginal. Carmilla would have to ask Ser Danny if her charming manner had done any ‘seducing’ of its own. Though that was what her and Laura thought of normal Danny, and that have proved itself to be a wrong assumption. Beyond wrong.

“She does?” Ser Danny balked at the suggestion that the Marquis could ever be right about everything. Which did not shock Carmilla in the least, she’d met Danny Lawrence, and it took her months to wrap her head around the idea that the morality of the world wasn’t simply black and white.

“I am a very seductive vampire, cutie,” Carmilla clarified with her best bedroom eyes. The Baronet blushed and Carmilla cheered internally. “However I don’t care to think about souls and witchcraft has always seemed like a lot of work,” Carmilla trailed off in thought. Her flippancy towards executable offences caused Ser Danny to laugh in a restrained manner that Carmilla didn’t like. She enjoyed how freely Danny gave herself over to happiness. It set a good example in combating Laura’s obliviousness and Carmilla’s pessimism.

“That may be the case, Countess, however the Marquis does care for matters regarding the soul,” Ser Danny said, forcing the tone back to seriousness and away from Carmilla’s perpetual attempts to flirt. “She wouldn’t dare to perform her experiments and keep her trophies if someone could prove that vampires possess a soul. The public would turn against her immediately.”

Carmilla felt that a holy water bath was in her immediate future and she was overjoyed, then scared. If fire hurt, and she wasn’t even half as powerful as she normally was, then logically it was possible that holy water and the crucifix and whatever else could harm her. She might not be able to enjoy the wonders of garlic bread anymore. The curse was proving to be truly the greatest of evils.

“And you’ve found a way to prove that I have a soul, I presume?” Carmilla asked with mounting worry. Whatever the Baronet had come up with was sure to either be highly embarrassing or potentially fatal. Ser Danny grinned wide, and Carmilla knew she was going to be mortified and soon.

“I have, and we wouldn’t even need to leave the Lodge to do it,” she started to explain, but got distracted by Carmilla perking up at her words. “What?”

Carmilla took a moment to contain her excitement. “If you want to do it, dear Baronet, then all you have to do is ask.”

Ser Danny blushed predictably again, though her uncomfortable shifting reminded Carmilla of something and she couldn’t remember what, god she was still tired. “Lady Carmilla!”

“What?” Carmilla held out her hands innocently. “I consulted Perry and my in-depth knowledge of regular Danny and regular Laura to conclude that you totally count as Danny and therefore not cheating if we do it,” Carmilla pushed out rapidly, trying to gloss over her growing feelings for Ser Danny. She didn’t know how much of this incident either of her girlfriends would remember and she would not be teased endlessly for her actions during the curse.

The Baronet considered her words as she moved to sit at Danny’s desk. She got distracted with the spinning chair, but kept her thoughtful expression despite the universally understood joy of rolling around on a desk chair. If they got especially bored during the rest of the week, Carmilla would have to introduce Ser Danny to roller jousting and all of the endless glory associated with winning.

Carmilla considered the life choices that led her to this moment. She vividly remembered the bout of roller jousting that led to three smashed windows and a new laptop for Laura. She liked her choices.

“That is not what I meant. I believe that would only confirm the Marquis’ charges against you,” she said, smirking lightly. Carmilla glared back playfully.

“She doesn’t need to know!” Carmilla argued. Then thought about it for a second, “okay now it sounds like cheating.” She glared more seriously at the Baronet. “From now on, we tell the Marquis everything we do together.”

“My thought exactly,” Ser Danny agreed a little too easily. Carmilla grew a sudden ball of apprehension in her gut. Ser Danny lost whatever nerve she built up before coming down, her shoulders slumping and her eyes losing some of the playful edge Carmilla had spent the last four days building up. Carmilla stepped in to help her along.

“So we tell her nothing?”

“No, we tell her we’re engaged.”

Carmilla did not have a response for that.

The Baronet rose from the desk chair and came to kneel on one knee in front of Carmilla.

“Scarlett, the one you accused of time-travelling?” Ser Danny clarified, her voice quirking upwards at the strange concepts. Carmilla nodded her understanding, eyes wide and voice lost in shock. “She is a priest of some kind, and if you can be bound by rites of marriage, then you must have a soul, right?”

Carmilla wanted to go along with her logic. It would make the discussion she wanted to have with Danny and Laura when this was all over much easier if she could get herself halfway there without having to delve any further into why it was something she wanted. “You’re-”

“Proposing marriage, yes,” Ser Danny cut her off, her lips ticking upwards at the corners of her mouth slightly. She wobbled a little and held out an arm to steady herself. Carmilla’s mouth opened and closed repeatedly as she searched for the right words to express her current emotional whirlwind.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Carmilla shouted. Ser Danny tripped over her own legs and fell backwards onto her ass in her haste to get away from the yelling vampire Countess. Carmilla took no notice of her alarm, rising to her feet and growling at the prone form of the innocent idiot currently having the misfortune of being in her girlfriend’s body.

“I’m sorr-”

“Oh no you don’t!” Carmilla barked, glaring and resisting the urge to hiss. “You don’t get to propose and then apologise, no!” Carmilla fell back on the bed with a huff of annoyance.

“I won’t do it again?” Ser Danny offered meekly, slowly inching her way towards the stairs to increase her chances of surviving her encounter with the vampire.

“Oh no,” Carmilla started, standing straighter and catching the Baronet’s eyes, “not angry at you, sweetie. Though that is a silly plan and it will not work,” she reassured, keeping the cranky out of her voice for a precious second. Ser Danny sat still, confused beyond which words could explain.

“You aren’t angry, yet you’re yelling?” Ser Danny questioned, trying to alleviate the headache from confusion before it started.

“I am not angry at you, Baronet. I am angry at Danny fucking Lawrence’s stupid face asking me to marry her,” Carmilla explained, throwing her hands around in wild gesticulation. “Especially since it isn’t even my damn Danny doing the proposing!”

Ser Danny nodded slowly, her face scrunched up as she worked through Carmilla’s fairly complex problem and the continuing enigma of what exactly the Countess, the Marquis, and herself were to each other when they weren’t cursed. Because her vampire guest seemed to change her mind every passing hour with little regard to her own understanding.

“Do you know how many times I have literally dreamed about what you just did?” Carmilla asked breathlessly. She seemed to deflate into a lost young woman, rather than the centuries old vampire the Baronet knew her to be. “Like, actual dreams. About you! Doing the on one knee thing!”

“Okay?” Ser Danny settled herself against the desk, having decided to let the vampire vent all of her grievances against the so-called ‘normal’ Danny.

“Or me with rings or something,” Carmilla continued. “I’m not sure about how an actual wedding would go with all three of us, however I have nothing but time and am willing to figure it out.”

“Three?”

“Oh sweetie, it’s already a miracle you and your worldview have stayed pro-queer, let’s not push it into dealing with polyamory as well,” Carmilla waved off her question.

“I understand the concept, Countess, I ask only for clarification as to who our third is,” Danny cut back, offended that Carmilla would presume her views to be so archaic. She had a sinking feeling about the answer.

“Laura,” she answered plainly. “The Marquis out there trying to kill us both. We love her, and she loves us and do you think rings are the way to go here or should I propose some kind of bracelet situation?”

Ser Danny took the change in stride. “I believe you should have this discussion when the people you love exist again, instead of their inferior doubles,” she reasoned, her tone low and morose. Carmilla surged forwards to meet the Baronet on the floor, deliberately knocking their shoulders together. “Hello there.”

“Inferior isn’t the right word. You aren’t inferior in any way to Danny, just different,” Carmilla whispered, gently turning the Baronet’s head so she could kiss her delicately on the cheek. “You do bow to me better than her, so definitely not inferior.”

Ser Danny laughed, though Carmilla could hear the fluttering apprehension of infatuation curling around the edges of her voice. “And the Marquis?” Carmilla burst joyously, losing her composure as she laughed.

“She’s the superior fighter, though Laura is more than capable of kicking your ass to next week and back, Red,” Carmilla joked honestly. The Baronet recoiled in mock horror at the very idea that the tiny Marquis could ever be a threat to her gigantic stature. “I’m not lying or overstating here, we held sparing matches and you got beat down every match.”

The Baronet’s shoulders slumped forwards, betraying how much Carmilla’s words cut into her pride. “I should surrender, then? No way to win?”

Carmilla didn’t want to say that she would barely bet on Danny in a fight against Laura without a sword, let alone with years of training and that heavy cavalry sabre her tiny body was clearly used to swinging around.

“That remains to be seen,” Carmilla answered cryptically. The ginger twins would get back to her eventually, and they better have an answer for her otherwise she was finding a way out of their prison and draining them both dry. Laura and Danny would understand after a few decades. “Can I answer that one tomorrow?”

“Your friends?”

Carmilla shrugged and moved to settle herself on the floor for another night. “They think they have a good lead about what’s going on. They don’t have a terrible record when it comes to this kind of thing so we wait and see.”

The Baronet took it at face value and didn’t seem to hear Carmilla’s loud doubts. She lifted herself off the floor and started to go about her nightly routine.

Carmilla curled up to get some more sleep, hopefully dream and nightmare free for the third time in a row.

 

* * *

 

 

"Pop quiz!" LaFontaine shouted into Perry's laptop. Perry herself jumped at the loud noise.

"Volume, dear!" Perry yelled, equally loud. Carmilla raised an amused eyebrow at the pair of them. "And this isn't the best way to-"

"It's a great way to tell her! Think fast: I'm pretty nifty with a sword, totally bi, really tall, and am currently fighting a war against teeny tiny Laura Hollis. Who am I?"

Carmilla knew Danny wasn't the right answer, but still, "I guess it's not Danny?"

"Nope!" LaFontaine grinned smugly into the camera. "Danny can't sing or speak French."

Carmilla startled at the reminder. That was by far the oddest part of her week, hearing her girlfriend sing not only in tune but without any mistakes and nearly moving Carmilla to tears with the nature of her voice. Then she noticed the whole thing was in French which just made it worse. It was unsettling and weird. "The Baronet can."

"Know anyone who fits that description?" LaFontaine asked slyly. Perry elbowed them in the ribs. They glared at each other for a moment, communicating silently in that extremely personal way Carmilla could never seem to decipher. "Okay, so maybe you don't. Your dates are kind of the same though."

"Did you piss off anyone French other than that one time you tried to sleep with Napoleon's wife?" Perry interjected before LaFontaine could ramble on any further. Carmilla wanted to rip her throat out through the video connection, she barely met the man and everyone needed to shut the fuck up about it yesterday!

"I haven't spent any significant time in France since that little vacation we took after Danny's graduation, and no, I haven't got any centuries-old enemies there either." Carmilla stopped to ponder for a moment. "Or maybe I do, no clue really, don’t care either usually."

“Have you ever heard of La Maupin?” Perry asked, causing LaFontaine to pout at her, thunder taken away. Carmilla considered the name for barely a moment.

“French opera singer, good with a,” Carmilla stopped herself, catching the mad grin on LaFontaine’s face, “sword. Fuck!”

“That will be six thousand points for ‘spirit possessing their own possession’,” LaFontaine said, their tone far to upbeat for Carmilla’s liking. “And who’s a lethargic vampire with little to no powers suddenly surrounded by a massive piece of magic with a suspicious wound on her side?”

Perry poked LaFontaine in the side of the head, making her displeasure known. “Let her take it in for a minute, maybe?”

To their credit, LaFontaine seemed guilty as Carmilla’s hand went to her side and she turned her head away from the camera. “Sorry.”

“She’s evil?” Carmilla asked, heart suddenly falling. She hadn’t caught a show, but she had certainly heard of the woman. Looked up to her at the time, even if she was human and weak. “That sucks.”

LaFontaine made non-committal noises. “Eh, probably not? We think she was trapped inside her own sword when she died having unfinished business, and the resulting decades left alone have warped her mind so much that she can most likely only think about resurrecting herself to escape from her prison.”

“Eloquent, dear,” Perry said.

“Thank you.” LaFontaine blushed.

“One of them dies, La Maupin takes over?” Carmilla sought clarification, scratching at the wound the Frenchwoman inflicted upon her. If LaFontaine was to be believed, it was a link between herself and the sword, and the insane spirit draining her energy to power her mad dash for life. “Excellent.”

“Maybe try to talk them out of it?” Perry threw out optimistically. Both Carmilla and LaFontaine stared at her darkly, leaving no doubt about what the answer was. “Break their legs, see if they can kill each other then?”

That broke the tension in Carmilla’s muscles. “I will consider assault as a solution when we get closer to zero hour. For now, go find confirmation and what the heck we can actually do about this please?”

Carmilla wanted to go back to sleep, and they were both happy to comply. It would not be a nice night’s rest.

 

* * *

 

Carmilla sat up from her usual position on the floor, awoken by the flashing light on her phone. She hated the J.P. could do that, it made her want to throw her phone against the wall.

His message only said four words.

‘There is no question.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, comments are fantastic and highly encouraged to keep me on track with the Danny-centric prequel I'm writing now.


	18. The Last Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Is there no way to phrase ‘we had totally innocent dancing times that were fun’ without it sounding sexual?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am very unsure about this chapter, mostly to do with subject matter.
> 
> No warnings or anything, just something I've never written before.

Carmilla’s leg bounced up and down relentlessly, betraying her nervous excess energy to the entire world.

The fact that Ser Danny and possibly Bunny were the only ones who were both not busy and willing to enter the basement didn’t enter into her mental equation. The world could see her worry, and was silently mocking her for not being about to do anything about it. The sword was hanging on Ser Danny’s hip and there wasn’t any good plan Carmilla could see to get it away from her, let alone remove the spirit out of her metal cage and releasing her into the wild or whatever without killing either one of her lovers or herself. Hence the energy, knowing that she could potentially be doing something, but not actually knowing what that something was gradually drove Carmilla to being a jitter-wracked mess in the hours Ser Danny was out.

While not wanting to look at Ser Danny and the key to saving her, Carmilla desperately wanted to be close to her while she had the chance. Tomorrow, she could very well lose Danny forever, through almost no fault of her own besides not being susceptible to possession.

The urge to run and hide rose like bile in the back of her throat. To grab the sword and hide both the weapon and herself in the middle of the woods without anyone but Ser Danny herself noticing. That might confuse La Maupin into giving up some of her hold over the collected people. But that could kill Carmilla if the spirit tried to exert more energy to enforce the status quo.

“Lady Carmilla?”

Oh excellent, Carmilla thought. Ser Danny deciding to check in on the woman who had spent nearly a full week giving her whiplash with her running hot and cold was a generally terrible idea on her part and Carmilla almost fell in love with her immediately for it.

“Unless you have a brilliant idea, please go away,” Carmilla groaned, her words barely audible to the Baronet’s ears. Ser Danny continued her heavy clomping down the stairs regardless, given that she was technically in charge and not one to take anything Carmilla ordered her to do as the word of law. Carmilla missed Danny, she listened when Carmilla was being serious, most of the time anyway. “Or come downstairs anyway, whichever.”

“Have I done something to offend you?” Ser Danny was so innocent in her question. Carmilla didn’t feel a moment of guilt as she compared the idiot to a kicked puppy. Really, sometimes Danny made it far too easy for Carmilla to get her claws underneath her skin. “You have been distant since our evening together.”

Carmilla understood where LaFontaine and Perry were coming from, which was rare. “Is there no way to phrase ‘we had totally innocent dancing times that were fun’ without it sounding sexual?” Carmilla wondered out loud. Ser Danny suddenly took a great interest in her boots, ears flushing red and an air of extreme discomfort surrounding her.

“No, I have tried all day with the girls, it may be a lost cause,” she agreed, slowly moving to perch herself on her own bed. As far away from Carmilla as possible, the vampire noticed. “Are you alright, all things considered?”

Carmilla gave up on her air of mystery completely, there was no need for it when lives she really, really cared about were on the line. “Your sword is causing this, and I don’t think it will let me tell you how,” Carmilla hurried to add as her side flared with heat. No explaining herself, that would be far to easy and she would stand a chance of stopping La Maupin’s plan. That wasn’t allowed apparently. “Let’s just say magic and leave it there?”

Ser Danny took this in stride, barely reacting except for painstakingly removing her sword from her side. She leaned forward to place it on the floor, then kicked it away from both of them. “Can we do anything? Destroy it, ignore it, anything?”

Carmilla cried out with the sudden white-hot branding iron flashing into her side. Ser Danny lifted her arms in concern but schooled the reaction into a careful stare, assessing the vampire’s state with a keen interest. Carmilla liked that look, and it made the pain subside for the barest of moments. Then it was gone.

“Let’s not destroy me, and I do so hate being ignored,” Ser Danny snarled. Carmilla nearly fainted with the pain combined with the sudden drain on her energy. “You do not want me to have to take over like this again, you may not survive!”

Carmilla held up both hands, hoping not for the first time that La Maupin didn’t have access to Danny’s memories along with her body. “Okay, chill out yeah? No need to murder anyone yet, whatever you’ve imbued into that thing can’t be fully charged quite yet, right? Can’t kill the battery before you’re done.”

La Maupin smirked, the expression all wrong on Danny’s face. Then she was gone.

Carmilla, in the half-second between La Maupin receding back into the sword and the pain subsiding, was off the bed, picking up the sword and was halfway up the stairs before Ser Danny woke up in her borrowed body.

“Countess!” Ser Danny called after Carmilla.

Carmilla had to ignore her, all while hoping that the spirit was too drained to take over anything again. She had to recover, even Mother couldn’t take over someone twice in such speedy succession, especially when she had to channel the energy through a cursed object. Carmilla bowled over Winter, then Scarlett as she forced her way out the back entrance to the Hunting Lodge. The blind need to keep her love safe had taken over, and she yet again had a sword that could use her life’s energy to kill her, charging toward death with the only difference being the sun on her face and the wind in her hair.

The sword glowed hot in her hands, with light rather than heat though it still burned. As she fell, nearly a quarter of a mile away from the Lodge, Carmilla cursed the green flesh slashing across her side, that’s where the real heat was originating.

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Stay down, little vampire,” La Maupin’s disembodied voice entered into Carmilla’s mind. Invading without warning, Carmilla’s awareness of her existence didn’t do anything this time. “Do not try that again, I would prefer to stay near the giant one, she matches the closest to my own body.”

La Maupin did not seem to notice that she had inadvertently admitted to being reliant on the sword. Carmilla hated that she now had to report back to Perry and LaFontaine that they were right, excellent.

“You must cease your foolish little attempts at saving them, they are beyond your reach and well within my grasp. Do your job and be a good little damsel, I’m sure there’s tome filled with fairytales to give you some ideas.”

Carmilla heard her French accent leaking through for the first time, and declared the next twenty-four hours a game of chicken. The grasp the spirit had on her power or Carmilla’s ability to supply it, one of them had to give out first and little Julie had just given away something Carmilla knew she had kept close to her chest. Carmilla wasn’t enough for the whole thing, she needed Danny too. To give herself form, and probably to take over a body when someone gave out.

La Maupin needed to be close to follow through on her plan. Smirking, Carmilla kept on ignoring her, escaping easily from the dead woman’s grasp without giving her a chance to threaten her some more. She gave away what she was, confirming what the gingers had deduced on their own.

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Is there anything in your life that doesn’t try to kill you?” Carmilla heard Ser Danny growl. Her body felt like it was flying, and she wanted to believe she was dreaming something other than a cursed nightmare for a few moments. The infuriating woman carrying her wasn’t going to allow that. “I can see your eyes moving, Countess, would you care to explain yourself?”

Carmilla groaned, and reached to link her hands behind the Baronet’s neck in a dangerously familiar gesture. The freeing feeling of being carried around by Danny Lawrence felt all kinds of wrong under the circumstances, but the sensation was still there and Carmilla no longer had the energy to argue with her own body about what it wanted. She needed to push it to breaking to win her little game of chicken, the least she could do was allow herself to be carried around by her giant idiot.

Ser Danny carried her weight easily, despite her various wounds. Carmilla appreciated the gesture, but felt her protector's muscles tense with effort. Much more than Danny's did when she decided to go full-on knight in shining armour on her girlfriend, the one that would accept it anyway.

"Put me down, you're hurt and this is ridiculous," Carmilla demanded softly, running a hopefully soothing hand through the Baronet's hair. Her jaw set in determination and Carmilla knew she was being carried the entire way down into the Lodge and then down the stairs. "If it's too-"

Ser Danny stopped to duck her head, capturing Carmilla's lips with a previously missing confidence. The vampire inhaled sharply in shock, losing concentration as teeth bit roughly at her lips and the hands grasping her body tightened their hold. The Baronet stumbled briefly on the next step.

Carmilla pulled back to stop herself from laughing directly into Ser Danny's face. She watched the other woman's lips draw downward into a pout, and she could almost hear the internal berating and general annoyance at her own incompetence. Carmilla shut down the self-depreciating spiral before it could get started, tugging on the red hair clutched in her hand to distract her love. Ser Danny stopped still to enjoy the kiss, and to not fall down the remaining five stairs.

Not falling down the stairs seemed to be a key priority. Carmilla groaned when they stayed almost perfectly still as their lips were locked. She pulled away to encourage the flimsy human and her injured body to stop carrying a grown woman around. Ser Danny smirked in an exceedingly familiar manner. Carmilla rolled her eyes, another Danny who figured out how much she liked being carried around and courted and bowed to and she begged yet again that no one but her and the gingers would remember this whole thing.

Ser Danny set her down near the bed, Carmilla’s feet hitting the ground sending shooting pains up her entire body. They nestled into her side, and she made her peace with the agony, not letting Ser Danny see so much as a twitch on her face. “Thank you for coming after me,” Carmilla said, barely within the Baronet’s hearing.

“Of course.” Ser Danny smiled bashfully. “That’s what I am here for, protecting you, taking care when you do not seem to want to take care of yourself,” she explained, fussing with her various buckles and clips. “I apologise if I was too forward.”

Carmilla grasped Ser Danny’s arms and guided her to sit on her own bed. She brushed the bright red hair out of her eyes, and let her eyes wander over the awed expression on Ser Danny’s face. “Please don’t apologise. I like you, cursed or not, and you don’t have to protect me.”

Ser Danny opened her mouth to argue but Carmilla pulled her hair until she stopped. “Childish,” she accused instead. Carmilla let a smile pull itself across her lips. “Other me won’t mind?”

Carmilla didn’t bother trying to stop the laughter that bubbled into her chest. “Oh, you sweet innocent thing, Danny would high-five you once she was done murdering you for carrying me around like that.”

“Skewered priorities can’t be very attractive,” Ser Danny sulked, reaching to take her shoes off and throwing them across the room to land almost perfectly up against the stairs. “I don’t know why you stay with me.”

Carmilla scoffed at the over-dramatic ridiculousness, and the pouting was as cute as ever. “Well you’re pretty handy with a sword, and you’re tall, which is nice.”

As she spoke she began slowly untying Ser Danny’s light armour, pulling the layers off as her protector when a brilliant shade of red. Ser Danny’s hands curled into fists pushing into the bed and her arms started to shake as Carmilla removed everything but her light white shirt. She didn’t want to tackle Ser Danny’s tight pants until she had to, knowing from experience that this was the one situation where all that leg ended up being a major downfall.

Ser Danny’s hands stubbornly remained in the exact same place, so Carmilla had to coax them into motion. She leaned down, a rare sensation, and kissed Ser Danny until large hands came sliding over her hips, pulling her downward suddenly finding Danny’s regular insistence. Carmilla jumped involuntarily as fingers brushed her bare skin underneath her shirt. Her hips twitched in anticipation, like her body knew exactly who was doing the touching and where that invariably ended up.

“Where are the girls?” Carmilla whispered against Ser Danny’s lips. She went to pull her shirt off when Ser Danny’s hands left her hips to stop her. “Arriving soon then?”

Ser Danny shook her head in the negative, tugging on Carmilla’s shirt. “They are well aware that I expect them to be not here for the rest of the night,” she murmured, focus drawn by the slow revealing of Carmilla’s skin. “I don’t wish to offend-”

Carmilla silenced the infuriating propriety by grabbing Ser Danny’s shirt collar in both hands and ripping it halfway down her body. “Please stop hesitating for my sake, I’m fine, I promise.”

Shrugging, Ser Danny lost a minute sliver of her nervous energy as she removed the remains of her shirt. The blush remained as she squirmed underneath Carmilla’s longing curiosity. For some odd reason, Carmilla was interested in figuring if Ser Danny and her Danny had any physical differences between them. Aside from being natural lightning rods for military power to strike them, Carmilla didn’t see much.

Carmilla removed her own shirt, carefully tossing it to land at the top of the stairs. Anyone who wanted to interrupt was going to pay with a broken neck. Carmilla was several years beyond caring about what happened to any pains in her neck that forced their way into her life with Danny and Laura.

She planted her knees on either side of Ser Danny’s hips, and slung her arms around her neck.

The Baronet shook as Carmilla lowered her half naked body onto the bed. Control in bed wasn't a new concept to Carmilla when it came to Danny. She vividly remembered Danny's first time. The hesitance and the complete willingness to allow Carmilla to take the lead. The dynamic changed almost immediately during Danny's second time alone with Carmilla. The vampire was overwhelmed by her forceful nature and the enthusiasm her love brought once her embarrassment faded away.

"Are you absolutely sure?" Carmilla asked, noting the tension rippling through Ser Danny's muscles and the hilting of her breath. Red hair tousled as she nodded vigorously. Carmilla spent some time scrutinising Ser Danny's sincerity, disguising her concern as admiration. There was also some admiration thrown in as well because Danny Lawrence's face deserved to be admired like it was carved out of marble.

"Ask again, and I may just say no to see what you would do," Ser Danny whispered, pulling Carmilla down by her belt buckle. Her lips sought out Carmilla's, her displeasure evident when the vampire refused to comply. Instead she propped herself up with her hands and continued her staring down. Ser Danny's evident discomfort returned, one of her legs starting to twitch in agitation.

Carmilla didn't understand what Ser Danny meant, she thought the answer was completely obvious. "I would stop?" Ser Danny's face stopped pouting and started tilting like a puppy. The confusion never failed to tickle Carmilla. "I love you, and I'm not a monster, so I would stop."

The clarification did not shed light on whatever the Baronet's problem was, if anything her face scrunched up further. "The Marquis is so very wrong about you," she said, her voice dreamy. Carmilla scoffed.

"Don't give me credit for being not terrible," she demanded quietly, "give me credit for the better things I could be doing."

Ser Danny's ears went bright red as Carmilla surged forward, pressing their lips and their bodies together.

Carmilla struggled with her own hefty belt. Her fingers slipped in her odd nervousness. Ser Danny stared up at her, her innocent eyes blinking without judgement at Carmilla's lack of smoothness. Her own hands joined Carmilla's and managed to remove it in less than five seconds. Carmilla kissed her.

The belt joined the growing pile of accessories sitting beside Danny's bed. Ser Danny slipped her arms around Carmilla's waist to drag lazily across her back. Carmilla let her explore, happy to take the rest of the night enjoying Danny.

She pointedly avoided the thought that flew through her mind, while she's still around to enjoy. Carmilla pressed her lips to Ser Danny's with more force. Ser Danny took this as encouragement and slipped her hands lower.

Ser Danny pulled back from the kiss to work her way down to Carmilla's neck.

“This counts as corrupting the daughters of nobility,” Ser Danny whispered into Carmilla’s neck, before biting down gently. Carmilla was confused for a few seconds. “Evil vampire,” she groaned as Carmilla ground her hips downward in retaliation.

“Not my fault you looked good enough to eat,” Carmilla purred, internally cackling at the opportunity to use the same cheesy line twice.

“You tell the Marquis that tomorrow.” This was followed by a particularly hard bite. “After I’m done corrupting you.” Carmilla giggled sinfully.

“You’re corrupting me now?” Ser Danny moaned in the affirmative, pulling away to remove her loose tank top, and throwing it blindly behind her. Carmilla’s pupils blew wide at the flesh she hadn’t had the pleasure of enjoying for what suddenly seemed to be an eternity. Ser Danny smirked above her. Carmilla responded by lunging forwards and attaching her teeth to Ser Danny’s neck, biting down softly. Ser Danny squirmed.

Carmilla bit down until she heard it.

A slight whine. A familiar one. Danny only made this particular noise when she was doing something she didn't exactly agree with, though she usually hid her discomfort well. The feeling settling into her chest, the one that was bothering her since Ser Danny's first less than modest stare, solidified into something very, very wrong with the picture she was being presented with.

Her heart tugged unpleasantly. Ser Danny did such a good job hiding her discomfort that Carmilla barely picked up on it, and the things she did notice she easily put down to nerves. How many partners had Ser Danny managed to fool?

“I think we should stop,” she whispered, pulling away so their bare skin no longer came into contact. Ser Danny pushed herself up onto her arms to accommodate the vampire’s wishes, though her entire body seemed to tense with the effort. Carmilla bit her lip, trying to remember the words they’d used the first time, coming up with nothing. “You seem,” Carmilla trailed off, wincing because that certainly wasn’t it.

Ser Danny’s walls were up and she was back on the end of the bed in the time it took Carmilla to admonish herself over her poor choice of words.

"There is nothing wrong with me," Ser Danny hissed into the darkness. Carmilla kept her distance, carefully managing her movements. Like she was sitting half naked in front of a startled animal rather than a grown woman who didn't have the words for her own feelings. "And if you suggest something like that again-!"

Carmilla held back the growl she felt bubbling up to the surface. That kind of thing wouldn't help at all. "You're not broken."

Ser Danny's wide eyes and racing heart remained. Carmilla kept herself perfectly still, allowing the panic to subside without her interference. Pride, pride, pride.

Once, in the privacy of their own spot on campus, Laura spent a solid two hours venting about Danny's stubborn streak when it came to her own health and well-being. Words like hubris and self-destruction came up frequently.

"Like I said, Danny Lawrence, I know you," Carmilla said quietly, so Ser Danny had to strain to hear her words. "I understand you, right down to your little bi-demisexual core of a terrified mess."

Red hair went falling over bare shoulders as Ser Danny's head cocked to the side. Her fingers laced together while she glared at Carmilla like she was personally responsible for the terminology failures of her time. "Please stop talking, and stop looking at me like that!"

Carmilla raised her eyebrows and made no indications that she planned to move any time soon. She didn't ask what Ser Danny meant. She waited.

The racing heart across from her settled, tired from the fear and the panic and the unrelenting self-consciousness. Carmilla stared, she was winning their game of chicken.

"Stop hiding your disappointment and disgust, please," the Baronet begged. She curled in on herself and Carmilla was back on this same bed, watching the same confusion and doubt play over the same face all over again. There was less yelling before, "I won't have the dishonesty in my house."

Carmilla shrugged. "Alright, no disgust, no disappointment. Anything else?"

Ser Danny gave a strangled cry. “That is not what I meant, and you know it!”

“I know what you meant and I have nothing to hide,” Carmilla explained, careful to keep her voice even and soothing. “I’m more than happy to be here with you, nothing else,” she declared, reaching to fix Ser Danny’s messy hair. She had to do it slowly, like she was approaching a wild animal, and was overjoyed when her hand was allowed to touch the red mane. Vividly, she remembered Danny lashing out at Laura when the smaller girl discovered this part of Danny’s sexuality by accident. It was the first time Carmilla went after Danny rather than Laura during a fight.

“I-”

“Don’t apologise,” Carmilla cut her off, trailing her hands down to Ser Danny’s shoulders. Pushing gently, she guided the other woman until she was lying comfortably on the bed. She could still hear her heart going a mile a minute, and resumed playing with her hair until it slowed. “You have a big day tomorrow, what with the murder and potentially being murdered, always fun.”

That broke Ser Danny’s panic, her chest shaking with silent laughter. Carmilla let her go, even as she noted the Baronet was probably borderline hysterical rather than actually amused, better to get the stress and worry out somewhere safe rather than suffering a breakdown at some point tomorrow.

“You aren’t angry?” Ser Danny asked, muffled through the pillow she had stuffed her face into.

“Yes,” Carmilla drawled, believing Ser Danny was coherent and relaxed enough to take some light teasing, “I have been dating you for years and am only now finding it in my heart to be pissed off about this, that’s a thing I’m doing right now.”

Ser Danny groaned out her annoyance and raised her head to glare at Carmilla. “Tomorrow will be okay right? You have a plan?”

Carmilla nodded, though she felt the lie prickle at the ends of her nerves. “Of course, now get some rest, dear one.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

Carmilla sat on the edge of the bed long after Ser Danny passed out to the emotional toll of the night. The weight of tomorrow probably also helped force her into rest. Carmilla longed to reach out and trace the six fading scars crossing Ser Danny’s back, craving the reassurance it alway gave. Danny Lawrence fought a werewolf, and lived to complain about her wounds itching as they healed. Carmilla’s humans were strong, they were durable, they could give her a chance to save them both before one got the better of the other.

Laura Hollis would go down in history as the reason Mother died and Silas reached a peaceful enough equilibrium under her influence. Carmilla wasn’t even a little worried. She wasn’t, tomorrow would go fine.

Weariness she hadn’t felt since her dive with a golden sword took every piece of energy she had left. The temptation lying in front of her was enticing, and oh so warm. Carmilla covered Ser Danny and curled up in the smallest ball possible to sleep next to her love without actually touching her. Hopefully the Baronet wouldn’t take too much offence when they woke in the morning.

The clutching at her chest returned and Carmilla braced for the fire and silver torture that she was finally ready for. Let La Maupin come.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

"Stop it!"

Carmilla's peaceful sleep was interrupted as abruptly as it always was when the Captain came calling at her dreams. She groaned with annoyance.

"Stop what you giant fucking pain in my neck?" Carmilla got to her feet without effort, the hold of the curse over her dreams breaking down more each second. "Because honestly? You don't scare me anymore, Julie."

The Captain stood in perfect stillness, her shock absolute. "What did-"

Carmilla laughed, gleefully tossing one of the heavy wooden benches clear across the room, taking out part of a wall. "I know what you're doing, and kind of how you're doing it," she explained. "What I do not know is why you're doing it?"

The Captain didn't react, simply settling herself into a resting face while she sat on one of the few undamaged seats remaining. "How?"

"I'm a fucking genius," Carmilla snapped back at the older woman. Well, younger. Honestly, Carmilla wasn't super clear on how exactly their respective ages worked. Did they measure by birth dates or time alive?

"Stop or I'll kill them both," the Captain threatened evenly. Carmilla couldn't shake the descriptor even slightly, no matter how much she knew this woman was just a highly skilled opera singer with a penchant for stabbing men.

"You can't do that," Carmilla reassured her dominance. She finally had even a little bit of an upper hand on the damn woman, and she would keep hold of it for as long as possible.

The Captain leaned back, smirking and winding her crossbow slowly. "I can assure you this hurts," she mentioned casually, freeing a hand to reveal her healing scar in the same place as Danny's. "I can also assure you that you, my dear, go a long way to make the little Baronet feel better."

Carmilla nearly flung herself across the room to rip the woman's throat out. Her rage must have been evident upon her face, because the Captain threw her head back and laughed.

"Oh calm down, I'm not in control of any of them beyond the obvious personality changes."

Carmilla wanted to kill her, even though she knew that could have untold consequences for Danny and Laura and everyone else underneath the curse. "Hypothetically, were I to kill you here...?"

The Captain rolled her eyes, "did me killing you cross over, stupid little vampire?"

"Fuck off with your stupid. I figured you out, fair and square," she snapped back immediately. "And I'm going to stop it from happening."

The Captain leaned forwards, resting her elbows on her knees. Her grin was feral. Not at all as reassuring as Danny's always managed. "No, you aren't."

Carmilla glared.

"You can give this one my sword," she gestured to her own face, "and my skill will pass into her and she'll win the fight."

"Or I could stop them from fighting at all!" Carmilla didn't see why she couldn't force them all to play nice. She could take forty or so people, regardless of who they were. "Cut the knot and all that jazz."

"If the duel is interrupted in any way, then all of them will turn on you, and they’ll use what little power you have left to do it. A fail-safe I worked in as soon as my first attempt to take someone over failed."

"My delightful scratch?"

The Captain shrugged. "If it'd stuck, I'd be free and clear in seconds."

"No, really. Why?" Carmilla asked again, glaring fruitlessly at the woman stealing her Danny's face. La Maupin considered the question. "More importantly, why now?"

"Do you have any idea how long it took me to syphon enough energy off all you people to persuade you to cut yourself on the sword subconsciously? Why now? Now is when I had the power, well you had the power. Now is when, even if I couldn't take over your body, even partially, I can use your energy and power to ensnare a larger group of people. Now is when I will live again."

Carmilla rolled her eyes. "Seriously? Your why is that pedestrian? 'I want to live'!"

La Maupin growled. "You haven't been dead before, not really. I was trapped in my own sword and dragged off to Styria. Fucking Styria!"

"Oh, poor baby, cry me a river," Carmilla mocked, she moved to sit next to the restless spirit. "Would you rather come be a vampire and serve in a death cult for three hundred years?"

The damn woman actually seemed to consider it as a possibility. "Death cult?"

Carmilla shrugged. "Everyone has Mother issues, mine are a little bit more severe."

"You can't stop me."

La Maupin grinned, her time served inside her sword turning what might have been a reasonable woman deranged and horribly disjointed. It was a miracle she had the mental capacity to manipulate events to her own advantage and ends. Carmilla willed herself to wake up, the curse was breakable, and she was beyond done with all of this crap. "Sure, whatever you tell yourself to get by. I'm going to wake up now."

"Tomorrow, one of them dies," d'Aubigny reminded insistently. Carmilla tried her hardest to ignore her, and failed. “You are more than welcome to choose which, I win either way.”

Carmilla let the weight of the next day show, shocking her fellow dead woman into silence. “And the more trouble I cause-”

Julie tutted. “The more power I’m going to need to keep things nice and stable.”

Carmilla slipped into darkness, her body cold and shivering.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chance to pick who's winning! I have written someone dead and it's sitting there disturbing the hell out of me.


	19. The Dying Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “No, I want no one to win and everyone to live!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Violence, violence, violence!!!!!! (you'd think I'd have had enough of this with Seven Lies for Seven Bullets)

Carmilla woke on top of something warm.

Until La Maupin, Carmilla hadn’t had a nightmare in months, they needed to change their sleeping configuration accordingly. Maybe Carmilla wanted to wake up on top of her girl for a little while. This was nice and Danny was significantly larger than Carmilla, it made more sense when Carmilla’s nightmares were taken out of the equation.

There was a hand running through her hair and fingers tracing over the contours of her hand.

“Good morning, Countess,” a heavenly voice rumbled through Carmilla’s pillow. “Are you ready to do whatever you’re going to do today?”

Carmilla wished she hadn’t mentioned the dirty work of the day ahead quite so quickly, she had hoped to avoid it for a few minutes.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do, so not really,” she snapped. The Baronet stopped breathing beneath her. “I promise I’m always this unhappy to wake up every morning, not you.”

“Oh, I thought-”

Carmilla lifted off her chest and stretched to kiss her cheek, silencing any more self-doubt from forming. “I know what you thought and it’s not sexual frustration, just not a morning person.”

Ser Danny’s ears went bright red. Carmilla kissed her again and gracefully fell out of the bed to start her day off with a bang. The connection with the hard floor hurt for the first time in a really long time. Ser Danny giggled behind her, then gasped as she caught sight of the wound on Carmilla’s side.

“It got bigger,” she whispered, all humour gone in an instant. “That’s not good, is it?”

Carmilla got to her feet and cast around for a shirt that wasn’t at the top of a full flight of stairs. She found one just as Ser Danny was lifting herself off the bed, her face drawn in exhaustion. Carmilla had to presume by her concerned expression that her own face didn’t look all that much better.

“It just means that the thing causing this found new uses for my usually awesome strength and power overnight,” she complained, wondering what the fuck could have happened while they were asleep. Maybe Laura or one of her men finally froze to death out the in cold of Styria and La Maupin had to step in and save the poor dears. Carmilla was so tired that she couldn’t muster concern for Laura’s well-being, her vampire ass might as well be dead already for all the care she had at that moment.

“And you have a plan to stop it from happening again?”

Carmilla bit into her lip, worrying the shirt she had found in her hands back and forth. She took a deep breath to gather her courage. “I need your sword.”

Carmilla turned to face Ser Danny, and found the other woman tugging on her own shirt but froze halfway there. She slowly pulled it on and possessively picked up her sword from its place resting against the headboard of her bed. “Why?”

“I don’t know what I’m going to do with it, but I know you can’t keep it,” she explained very helpfully. “It’s the problem and if you use it, you’re going to win.”

Ser Danny got that look yet again, the one where Carmilla felt like she’d punched her in the gut without warning. The tiny voice that came out of her mouth next only confirmed her own villainy in the situation, “you want her to win?”

“No, I want no one to win and everyone to live!” Carmilla’s nerves were at the end of their already limited patience. “That fucking thing will stop that from being possible so I will take it by force if you aren’t willing to trust me!”

Ser Danny stared at her, taking in the outburst silently.

An age went by, and the sword was offered to Carmilla grasped in a shaking hand.

“Thank you,” breathed Carmilla with all the sincerity she could muster.

“I must prepare, would you mind?”

Carmilla retreated up into the attic and spent the next three hours glaring at the sword until she heard Ser Danny calling to her soldiers to prepare for a potential battle.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Laura's ribs begged her to stop breathing, stop moving. The vampire's murder of her horse cost her dearly, the striking pain of each movement reminded her of her own foolishness. She knew not to face these creatures alone, even with the advantages of horseback. The ankle wasn’t exactly silent either.

"I will accept you complete and total surrender if you give it now," she called across the clearing. Masking her pain was a simple act, one she had more than enough practice performing. Her men jeered behind her, backing her up in all of her actions.

The Baronet's brilliant blue eyes shone at her, searching her curiously. It was like she hadn't heard Laura's words. Had the vampire broken the woman? Laura was sure her intelligence showed that Ser Danny Lawrence was a brash, bold, quick to anger warrior, not a calculating bone in her body. Yet here she was, staring.

Ser Danny didn't have the same confusion weighing down her mind. She was busy denying the throbbing in her shoulder wound, and getting her first real and up close look at the renowned Marquis de Hollis that didn't involve constantly checking over the woman's shoulders for men in the trees.

Short was the word coming to mind. Tiny even.

The Marquis was also admittedly a beautiful woman. Ser Danny could see what Lady Mircalla and her un-cursed self would see in her, superficially. In their time together the Countess would speak favourably of her apparently many good qualities while obviously glossing over the less than pleasant ones in a doomed attempt to make Ser Danny seek an absolute peace.

It came across as naive to her, but she humoured the vampire anyway.

"Quiet, or I shall be forced to comment on your less than impressive stature," Ser Danny replied, barely raising her voice. "Which I'm sure will be followed by you casting aspersions upon my hair, and before you know it, we'll be trying to kill each other!"

The Marquis went a definitely attractive shade of red. Anger or embarrassment, Ser Danny didn't particularly care. Her tiny body trembled with whatever it was.

"Where's the monster?" Laura decided to ignore the Baronet and her clear disdain for the seriousness of her situation. Every last one of Laura's men were armed beyond necessity underneath their coats. If she lost, the monster and those protecting her would die regardless. "Or have you found some way of escaping the trap?"

Carmilla let her head fall against the tree she was leaning on for support. Laura thought she, or more likely her God, was responsible for the barrier. Carmilla felt the weight of Danny's sword grow just that little bit heavier.

Though that did give her an idea as to what the hell she was supposed to do with the actual cause of the curse.

She pulled out her phone and called the ginger brains trust while wandering off towards the clearing.

Ser Danny spun around, craning her neck this way and that in search of the woman she knew wasn't there. Lady Mircalla might not even show up to the fight. Ser Danny certainly made herself clear that she wasn't expecting anything of the sort from the vampire, and she genuinely meant her words.

All Lady Mircalla being present would result in was Ser Danny's attention being divided and the Marquis presented with an opportunity to take a cheap shot.

"Ah, here she is, and armed too!"

Ser Danny's blood ran cold.

"Wipe that idiot smirk off your face, little Laura, before I come over there and rip your throat out," Lady Mircalla growled while she stepped in between the two combatants. Ser Danny had never seen the vampire so angry at the Marquis, not even upon their first meeting when she was confused and panicked.

"You-"

"Shut up, Danny," she interrupted, crossing the clearing and reaching up to grab Ser Danny's neck. "I know what to do, stay alive and don't kill her for as long as you possibly can, okay?"

Ser Danny nodded. "Of course."

Lady Mircalla tugged at the back of her neck to pull her down into a slow, gentle kiss that had both assembled armies whistling and hooting. "I love you," she whispered, pulling away. Ser Danny could barely speak.

"I-" The Countess didn't give her the chance to reciprocate. She turned to face the Marquis, leaving Ser Danny confused and distracted.

"And you too, not right now, but in general," Lady Mircalla called to the tiny woman. Then she was off like a cannonball, barrelling through two of the Marquis' men and into the woods.

Laura wished that this day, this week, would be over. This backwater was freezing and there were unreasonably attractive women coming out of the woodwork. She was fairly certain that she had narrowly escaped dying from the effects of the cold the previous night, one dead person, one claimed vampire and then she could leave for civilisation.

The combatants squared off. Ser Danny prayed to a God she wasn't sure she believed in that Lady Mircalla would make all haste to cross the barrier and break the curse, or whatever the vampire was planning to do. She struggled to believe her charge when she said this woman in front of her could inspire anything but hatred in Ser Danny's heart, but if the Lady Mircalla claimed it, then she would accept it. She wouldn't win the fight, unless prolonging it would cost Ser Danny her life. Lady Mircalla was clear, her wishes absolute. No one would die today.

The Marquis de Hollis did not have the same hopes for the wayward Countess. She believed that her divine right to retribution had dropped the invisible wall to contain the corrupted Baronet and her band of misfits so she could hunt them down. Wherever the vampire flew away to, the Marquis' men would be there to stop her in her tracks. She took the Baronet's sword with her, taking what all of her research indicated was the magical base of the giantess' power.

Carmilla knew there weren't enough men encircling the two leaders as the carefully sized each other up. Carmilla could have made the process easier, yet neither of them were willing to listen to her given her monstrous appearance to Laura and Ser Danny probably holding a grudge for the loss of her sword. Even if it was freely given, the Baronet could not have possibly liked giving it up. Explaining the situation wasn’t an option.

The circle of soldiers shuffled nervously, each staring at their own commander. They braced themselves individually to accept a potential loss, and took great comfort in their assured safety in imprisonment rather than the quick execution a captured soldier would normally face. The Baronet Lawrence was known for her honour, clearly. The Marquis de Hollis generally didn't do anything should couldn't justify as a crusade against the monsters that lurked in the night. The soldiers were safe so long as they didn't interfere with the fight to the death.

Perry and LaFontaine stood almost pressed up against the invisible wall stretching around the Summer Society Hunting Lodge and the surrounding woodlands. There was nothing else they could do, no information, no weapons. Perry talked a medical professional down from the Infirmary Bunker where he was hiding. The man stood restrained to a fallen tree where they could keep an eye on him. No matter what happened, his skills would be required in the coming hours.

The sun reached the apex of its journey across the sky, noon arrived without fanfare and the two women took a single step towards each other.

“Have you always been this short?” Ser Danny asked loud enough for everyone in the clearing to hear. “Or is it just the loss of your horse that has you so hobbled?”

The Marquis showed something resembling a human emotion on her face, which threw Ser Danny for a moment. “To kill a soldier’s horse outside of a battlefield is above all cowardly,” she hissed, her men wincing at the tone.

“So is burning a woman at the stake and yet here we all are! Me about to kill you. You about to die.” Ser Danny grinned wide. Keeping the Marquis talking would give the Countess enough time to do whatever she was going to do. “Everyone playing their part and one of us burning in Hell tonight, simple.”

“I am certainly falling to Hell when I die, but it will not be you who sends me on my way!”

Ser Danny rolled her eyes, pulling her borrowed sword and testing its weight and balance. It would do. “I tend not to be afraid of those that cannot reach my head, your majesty!” Ser Danny capped off her taunt by bowing low and exaggerated.

“Peasant! Why do you think you can defeat me? Killer of vampires and demons alike!” Oh, now the Marquis was bright red and huffing with her rage. The teasing and delaying may have been a mistake on the Baronet’s part.

The men cheered and the women jeered.

Ser Danny smirked, staring down her nose at the admittedly short Marquis. “I am a huntress, an Amazon. I will kill you and every man here before you deny me the glory of war and victory!”

The Marquis’ men took a half-step backwards, though their leader didn’t falter one single inch. She opened her mouth to reply, forced her foot into the ground in a strong advance as she tried to speak. The infuriating woman cut her off, something new in her adult life.

“And you: brainless, humourless, and above all soulless. I’ve killed hundreds like you, self-righteous and completely unaware of what everyone underneath you is capable of,” sneered Ser Danny, a fake smile plastered onto her lips. “Nobility, not the dear Countess, should be burned.”

The Marquis de Hollis was done talking. She pushed forward and swung the heavy sabre at Ser Danny’s gut.

Ser Danny barely had time to fling herself backward, losing her footing and admonishing herself silently. She raised her sword, not her own but a borrowed weapon that felt all kinds of wrong in her usually capable hands, now that it was actually being used.

Her longer arm and lighter rapier flashed experimentally, not trying to hit the Marquis but test her defences. They were strong.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Carmilla didn’t know if breaking the barrier would do anything but kill herself while La Maupin tried to rebuild it, but it was the only plan she could see and Perry and LaFontaine didn’t have anything better for her. So she ran as fast as her tired, used body would take her, which was downright glacial by her usual standards. Her senses, however, weren’t diminished in the slightest by the drain on the rest of her body.

There were men patrolling in the trees. As far as Carmilla knew, there wasn’t anything in their agreement that stated all soldiers had to witness the duel, but there was a general implication and cursed Laura didn’t need to wiggle through loopholes like normal Laura always seemed to manage. The men were hunting for her or for the Summer Society girls. Or they could be flanking in preparation for the Marquis losing, or winning.

A shout from somewhere other than the clearing broke the otherwise silent woods. Then there was an arrow embedding itself into the tree nearest her head and Carmilla quickly figured out why the men were shouting.

Her legs burst with energy, survival instincts taking over from her regular panic over safety of girlfriends in danger instincts.

Getting to the edge of the cursed woods might kill her, but she would be damned if it wasn’t even La Maupin who killed her.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Ser Danny distinctly remembered being a better fighter. It had only been months since her last duel to the death, not decades. The Marquis ran rings around her, throwing her blade’s weight around to compensate for her stature. It worked remarkably well, breaking Ser Danny’s defences every time she managed to raise it back up. This left her frustrated and attacking wildly.

The Marquis had finally let herself be intimidated fully by the mis-match in size, especially since this giantess was using a weapon of refinement rather than a wooden club or a rock. She had done little research before setting off against the Baronet, and what she had gathered was that this woman was skilled in this method of combat. She couldn’t shake the sense of being toyed with, the fight was far too easy and there was no way a woman of such experience wouldn’t try to feign incompetence.

The rapier glanced a lucky blow against Laura’s arm, drawing blood for the first time in the fight. Laura did not notice the pain, and pressed forward to attempt a slash at her opponent’s guts again. That was the best way to guarantee death given their height mismatch.

Ser Danny struggled to stay upright as she jumped away from the glinting blade, and swallowed the gasp of shock that desperately wanted to escape. She swung at the sabre and deflected it so the Marquis was forced to bare her side to her or drop her sword. Ser Danny followed with the only non-fatal move that came to mind.

Laura, in retrospect, should have let go of the sword and dashed around the lumbering giantess until she got it back. Exposing an injury such as her ribs was a fatal mistake that she should have been remorselessly punished for, and yet.

A boot, rather than the rapier she was expecting, slammed into her ribs and fuck did the Baronet have long legs to get to her ribs with that kind of force. Laura felt the bones snap, and swore her pain out rather than giving into the urge to scream bloody murder upon the woman who should have killed her but was apparently taking the time to torture her first.

Ser Danny hoped the broken ribs didn’t force their way into the Marquis’ lungs, that would be counterintuitive to her main goal. Keeping them both alive wasn’t going to last much longer if the Marquis was going to start drowning in her own blood.

Laura used the blinding pain, and renewed her attack with a desperate vigour that had Lawrence backing away immediately.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Perry came into sight. Red hair flashing in the sunlight of noon. Carmilla's limbs begged her to stop. To give in to the pain and the restless spirit. To let her win. Allow Danny and Laura to kill each other, and the Summer Society and the Zetas to finally slaughter each other in the fields of battle.

Arrows continued to fly at her back, trying to kill her. None of the Zetas' shots were aiming to stop her while keeping her alive for their boss. No, clearly the boys forgot about whatever the Marquis had ordered them to do, and instead replaced it with seeing red.

The Marquis' heavy breathing, broken up by her rasping, wet coughs, alarmed Carmilla into running faster. She hadn't really considered the possibility that Ser Danny could actually win with Julie working against her and her natural hesitance when it came to killing, well Danny’s hesitance. Carmilla actually had no idea if the Baronet herself had killed more than the one, maybe two depending on how you looked at it, people Danny had.

Those two factors should have disqualified any worry Carmilla could have possibly had about Laura's health and safety. She'd even made it more than clear to the various Summer Society girls that any attempts to hurt the Marquis, even if she won, would be met with extreme dismemberment. Carmilla hoped they understood her message.

La Maupin only needed an end. One body, didn’t matter if it was Laura drowning in her own blood, Danny being defeated by a superior fighter, or the curse straining Carmilla’s supernatural energies so far that her body snapped and gave up on her. If Carmilla and the gingers were right, any of these three scenarios would end with a long-dead restless spirit healing and taking over the lifeless body. Carmilla forced her legs to work, annoyed now more than ever that adrenaline wasn’t really much of a thing for vampires if there wasn’t blood at the end of it for them.

Perry hadn't spotted her, though she did see the Zeta running all the way around the barrier. He was clearly patrolling the perimeter for her, looking to block off the escape. Carmilla ducked behind a tree, praying that the men behind her hadn't seen the dive. The Zeta passed in front of her, not even registering Perry's presence outside the radius of the curse. Stupid French woman had clearly planned this for a long time.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Ser Danny collected her composure, noting with glee the Marquis' ragged breathing. Her kick clearly dislodged one of her probably already injured ribs, possibly piercing a lung. She could hear the breathing inside her little chest, the rattle of drowning lifting Ser Danny’s spirits.

Of course, reality had to come along and ruin her brief happiness. For once, she wasn’t trying to win the duel, just buying time. Killing the Marquis would hurt the Countess and she had promised to protect Lady Carmilla with her very life, even if that meant dying so she could be happy with this tiny monster of a woman.

Laura knew what was happening to her lungs, could feel it though it was one injury she had never experienced before. She had watched men die from damaged respiratory systems, there was very little to be done. Now she could only hope to take out this woman then have enough time left over to hunt down the vampire in the limited space the invisible walls provided.

“Give up yet?” Laura bristled at the insult, and the smirk that came right along with it. “If you get that looked at now, you might survive the day.”

Ser Danny backed off, trying to keep her distance. Her skill had drained from her body somehow, she usually never would have done something as stupid as dropping all defence for a chance to plant her boot into the side of the enemy. The Marquis took nothing of the bait.

Laura saw red, no one had ever asked her to surrender mid-duel. This cretin would die slowly, in disgrace and Laura would watch the life slip from her body with pleasure.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Carmilla felt the weight of a human soul inside the sword for the first time since her bout with unconsciousness. That more than anything convinced her that she had made the right choice in taking the sword from Ser Danny. La Maupin’s soul was trapped in the weapon, leaving only threads of control reaching outward into the people trapped inside the barrier. Carmilla grumbled underneath her panting as she was reminded that the dead woman was using Carmilla’s own energy and supernatural enhancements to augment her own damn power. She fought down her innate urge to feel guilty about this fact, she didn’t exactly consent to helping with her mad plot to be reborn into a new body.

Laura’s breathing was worse and worse with every step Carmilla took, and Ser Danny was far too excited to be winning for Carmilla’s liking.

The blade in her hands had cut her, and she felt the flow of energy as La Maupin split her focus between stopping Carmilla and her desire to win the duel with Danny’s hands. Pride was probably what drew her to Danny after Carmilla, even before the relative height-match they had.

Carmilla braced herself when she caught sight of the wooden stake clutched in Perry’s hands. If she over-exerted herself, and La Maupin used her proximity to take her body rather than Laura’s or Danny’s, then Perry was there to stop any kind of reign of terror in its tracks. Carmilla had spent her entire walk to the clearing trying to convince Perry that this was the best option, neither Laura nor Danny would be in any shape to fight her when they woke up from the curse, so Perry had to kill her if it came down to it.

A Zeta jumped out from behind a tree and Carmilla slammed into him with her full weight, knocking him to the ground, head slamming with a crack.

Hair flying wildly, she set her sights towards death or freedom. Carmilla was willing to face both.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Laura’s lungs weren’t cooperating, though her sword arm remained strong and firm. This woman, impressive as she was, wasn’t going to defeat her, she wasn’t dying by her hands. Her eyes took on a feral glint, one the Baronet failed to notice. Her funeral.

The Marquis feinted a stumble only a single step, goading the giantess into an ill-prepared attack. The idiot took the bait, pressing her apparent advantage. Laura could taste blood in the air, and damn it felt good. She stepped into the Baronet’s reach and pushed her sabre forward until it pierced poorly armoured flesh. The blade slid straight though the body, and she kept going until it was buried to the hilt.

Laura watched big blue eyes widen in pain and shock. The blood dripping out of the wound as she pulled back send a flooding shock-wave through Laura’s body. The crowd cheered and jeered, neither combatant heard them. However Laura could hear the sucking pain of little Lawrence’s breath and that was enough for her. Chest heavier by the moment, Laura retreated away from the wide reach of the rapier, knowing that now determination to live, to survive would decide a victor.

They were done dancing, now the dying started.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Carmilla heard the cavalry sabre go in, then draw back out. The noise boomed in her ears, right along with Laura’s creaking ribs and wet breathing. Hearts raced to their respective finish lines, and Perry had finally seen her, grip on the stake growing tighter.

She hoped the boy underneath her was still alive, though she doubted La Maupin would choose to be a man if Laura and Danny were both about to be options. Carmilla could feel their wounds trying desperately to heal themselves, and the resulting drain on her own energy. Her body demanded food and the monster in the back of her mind informed her blood-lust that there was a flowing source of strength beneath her.

“Carmilla!” The vampire pushed through the haze of red, getting to her feet and retrieving the sword from where it had fallen. “How are they?”

Carmilla wanted to scream, she didn’t need the reminder of just how badly the fight was going.

Then there was yet another Zeta in front of her, his bow raised and eyes flashing with pride and triumph. Carmilla would struggle to restrain her more murderous urges as she took him out. She wasn’t certain she hadn’t killed the previous boy and didn’t find the space in her heart to care.

Pushing off the ground, her right leg losing the will to move for three agonising steps as she glared at the idiot dumb enough to get between her and giving Laura and Danny the medical attention they both now desperately needed. Perry was yelling something else, but Carmilla wanted blood and she wanted it now.

Feet cooperating, arms pumping again, she felt her panther ears pin backward though there was no way they were actually there and she was off again.

  
  


* * *

 

 

 

There was only a faint whisper in the back of her mind reaching Ser Danny’s awareness. Her sword arm and feet moved without her brain being in on the action. The voice was faint, barely even clear enough to make out each individual word. It pleaded with her to give up control, let me take your arm and make it strong enough to win, to save your own life. End the tiny terror and be done with it. What did some vampire you just met know anyway?

The cavalry sabre flew lethargically at her neck and she gave the voice an inch to fling her body backward. The voice cried out as if it were being strangled when she shut the mental door again, and it grew quieter by the second. Like a person falling down a hole.

Ser Danny heard the Marquis’ wheezing, and knew she had won. Even with the hole in her side, everyone knew that breathing your own blood was fatal, the Marquis was in a much worse situation than her. Her side might heal, Hollis was dead and Ser Danny didn’t know how she’d done it. There was no puncture of her chest and yet there it was, a dying woman.

The voice faded away with a distant scream as she collapsed underneath the weight of her wounds.

Then Ser Danny’s world went violently bright.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Carmilla used the sword to slash at the Zeta’s foot, connecting with enough force to send him flying in screaming agony. Perry was yelling at her but Carmilla couldn’t make out even a single word she was saying. The barrier was almost close enough, good because her feet felt like they were made of lead with anvils dragging behind her weary body.

La Maupin was going to be exorcised so very brutally for making Carmilla go through this much physical exertion. At least Mother only made her hold her breath and fight off extreme pressure to beat her, this was just inhumane.

“Lola, I suggest you fucking move!” Carmilla yelled with the last of the air in her lungs. Perry’s eyes went wide as she caught on to what Carmilla was going to do.

“I don’t think-”

Perry was cut off by LaFontaine dragging her out of Carmilla’s path. Carmilla didn’t think that she could shift her trajectory if she tried, so LaFontaine appearing was beyond excellent. Not stabbing Perry in the face with Danny’s cursed sword would be a great outcome of Carmilla’s day, one which she was dedicating to zero casualties.

The sword weighed roughly the same as a family car as far as Carmilla was concerned. She felt something terribly wrong happen back at the fight, her side sucking in her limited remaining energy to fix whatever wrench one of the combatants had thrown into La Maupin’s carefully constructed machine.

La Maupin was glaring at her.

Through the shimmering wall of the barrier, Carmilla’s nearly-unconscious brain was hallucinating what she imagined Julie d’Aubigny looked like when she was alive, sword on her hip and all. The woman was as imposing as Danny in stature and unlike Carmilla’s girlfriend, Carmilla knew she had the skill and killer instincts to back up her threating appearance.

Which gave Carmilla the spike in energy she needed to force her crumpling limbs into action. She lifted the sword onto the shoulder and threw it with the last of her strength at the barrier. The sword was heavy and Carmilla fell forward with the momentum of her throw and landed, her body flashing white hot with the impact.

Carmilla lifted her head from the dirt to see the sword make contact with a deafening crack.

La Maupin burst as if struck by lightning.

Then there was darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Question time: After this is done, would you prefer a Danny-prequel (the time-travel thing I've been hinting at) or six chapters of world-building fluff?


	20. The New Power

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They were free, curse broken, monster dead, evil defeated yet again.
> 
> Carmilla felt hollow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *mutters to self* please be clear about what's going on, please be clear about what's going on...

“I don’t understand why the three of you insist on being so ridiculous!” Perry shouted. Danny jerked upwards, suddenly alert and awake. She couldn’t remember why she wasn’t awake, but her side hurt, and her shoulder, and her leg, everything hurt. Her heart ached but that wasn’t physical, and she struggled to place what could be the cause.

Murderous little cretin trying to kill such a spectacular lady as the Countess, her brain supplied by way of an answer. Which was wrong, way wrong. Carmilla would kill her if she even considered calling her ‘Countess’. “What?”

Her own voice was scratched to pieces, like she was coming out of a week long cold with her throat red raw.

“If you three would do your jobs and die, none of us would have to be here anymore!” Perry continued, serving to brush away some cobwebs from Danny’s mind. Goddess her side hurt and Perry’s shrill voice wasn’t helping matters. “Can you do anything right, Lawrence?”

Danny tried to stand, and instead fell backwards over her chair. She hit the ground and felt her body explode. Nothing new, being exploded was fairly old hat for her. Danny wondered if she would have to kill Perry. She didn’t want that, Carmilla and Laura liked the woman and her death would displease everyone involved in her life.

Her side demanded her attention, removing Perry from her immediate awareness. The pain was insistent, and she felt the warm pooling of blood spreading across her stomach. Little monster had got her good, and she was dying, the snarling voice of her brain gave again. Danny told it to shut up and it listened. Laura wasn’t monstrous to her, she liked Danny.

“How hard it is to die at the right time? Really, all you have to do is stop fighting the inevitable and you can have a nice long nap! Doesn’t that sound good?”

Danny took in the dark tones of her bedroom, and the pacing Perry in front of her. Nothing was adding up and she struggled to find any kind of equilibrium, her head swimming constantly as she moved at all.

“I’ve lived inside your head extremely closely for the last few weeks and I must say, you are going to make excellent cannon fodder for that little Army we both know you’re going to pledge you little life to,” growled Perry.

Danny heard the words and flung her hand out for her sidearm. It would be there, she never left home without being fully armed. Styria was a dangerous place and few people knew that better than her.

Perry glared and started to speak again. Danny cut her off with two quick shots, one to the shoulder and the other blowing a hole clear through her side.

“I let you go fight to the death and you decide to up and start shooting people?” Carmilla. Though she was a giant black panther, still Carmilla. Danny shrugged to the best of her ability. “You owe me for this, Lawrence.”

“Promise me she’s gone and whatever you want,” Danny agreed quickly.

The panther tore into the dead woman who looked less and less like Perry with every moment.

Her joy at Carmilla’s sudden appearance was cut short by her side giving an almighty stab of pain, Carmilla coming bolting to her side.

Danny fell back into darkness, blood pooling around her.

 

* * *

 

 

 

  
The next thing Laura was aware of, she was lying in the middle of the woods, surrounded by the Zetas who pledged themselves to her in the fake war against the Summer Society. Around them lay paintball guns and blunted metal swords. Laura’s head was clouded with the haze that surrounded her for the last week, however it was starting to clear.

Her memories started to right themselves. She remembered the blind fanatical hatred of vampires. The capturing of Mircall- Carmilla. Tying one of the two great loves in her life to a stake to burn her, and not just for show either. Fire that burned away much of the vampire’s clothing, that had her screaming with agony and begging to be let go. She remembered her men, the Zetas, but not the Zetas of her own memories, being scattered by several explosions the seduced Baronet caused to save the fifthly vampire. No, not the Baronet, Danny. Danny who came in on an actual white horse like an actual white knight, and used her element of surprise to vault over the burning pile and snatched Carmilla from her grasp.

Laura remembered hating them. She could feel the lingering disgust at the thought of the vampire corrupting the virtue of the Baronet Lawrence. Started a crusade against vampires that ended with herself religiously condemning Carmilla for her sexuality, both in nature and expression. Laura’s heart sank, and she lay back onto the hard ground to escape the realisation that she might have burned her relationship beyond recognition.

Kirsch groaned next to her, otherwise the clearing was silent. Most of the Zetas were there, as were all of the Summer Society girls. Laura wanted to lean back and allow the horrors of the past week to fade into nothing. Then she heard a weak sobbing. Laura stilled, ice gripping her heart and freezing her limbs.

The last little detail of her time as the Marquis de Hollis came crashing down upon her like the moon itself fell out of the sky to crush her tiny fragile body.

She felt the aches and pains accumulated by the Marquis, spending a full week out in the snow would take it out of anyone and Laura had learnt the hard way that Danny was the only one who could be counted on to provide reliable body heat. The Marquis should have made peace with the Baronet and her forces. Then she could learn the joys of the ‘evil seductress’ and the ‘overgrown peasant scum’ and cuddling. Laura was concerned for the well-being of her toes after spending that much time out in the snow. Frostbite set in quickly, and the Marquis had spent an entire week out in it.

Were she to be honest with the part of herself that cheered with pride at the Marquis’ victory, her side would have lost the battle if by no other means than her men would eventually freeze to death. So the Marquis could chase the abomination and her easily swayed lover to the ends of the Earth for retribution. It seemed like a waste to Laura, though Danny’s crumpling body sent a shot of adrenaline into her chest.

Laura, ignoring thoughts related to possibly killing Danny, wondered if Carmilla had seduced the Baronet. Laura waiting for the pang of jealously and betrayal to come, yet it didn’t. She knew how few wrong decisions she could have made in her short life that would have led her down the same path as the Marquis. Laura presumed that Danny, were she still alive, would discover the same thing.

The sobbing grew louder, and Laura struggled to turn and locate the source. Her ribs demanded she acknowledge their pain while her breathing remained wet. The Marquis didn’t have high hopes for her survival after the vampire threw her from her horse and the peasant pushed a bone into one of her lungs.

Laura wondered if Carmilla knew she could barely breathe, or if she knew Danny was lying flat on her back, crying though Laura could tell she wasn’t conscious.

Then there was nothing again. Laura felt the darkness envelop her for the second time in a single day and allowed it to take her.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

  
Laura stood in the clearing. The sun beat down upon her skin, drying it out at turning her throat into a desert. She begged silently for water, anything to stop the relentless heat. Her breathing came out ragged, like her throat was closing in on itself. The last thought on her mind was drowning in her own blood.

The scent of blood in the air was gone. So was the horrible smell that followed horses everywhere they went. Daddy could beg and plead all he wanted, Laura Hollis would never go near another horse as long as she lived. Being thrown from one tended to do that to a girl.

Her men were gone.

No. That's not right.

The Zetas were gone. Kirsch and his friends who tried to help Danny's stupid little plan. They were gone.

Danny was gone. Carmilla was gone. LaFontaine and Perry were never there. Laura was left alone.

Trying to behead one of your girlfriends and basically winning a duel to the death with the other tended to leave one alone in life and especially in love.

"I won't end like this!"

Laura whirled around in circles trying to pinpoint the source of the voice. She tried to speak, to call out, to ask who the hell was still out in the woods after the bloodbath. Her throat closed up further, making breathing a real struggle.

"Decades of planning ruined!"

The voice was familiar, though Laura didn't want to consider it. That was what Carmilla said the Captain sounded like in the few words on the subject Laura was able to pull out of her. Either Danny had been planning something for so long her voice became more mature, refined, and kind of French? Or the far more likely possibility, Silas had done a thing and her genius girlfriends’ fixed it while she was off daydreaming about eviscerating them both.

"Drown little girl, drown in your lover's life," it taunted her, and Laura suddenly couldn't breath at all.

Flashes flew before her eyes. Carmilla barely hesitating as she took down Laura's horse. Throwing Laura into the ground and nearly snapping three of her ribs. Danny forcing her guard to be broken long enough to throw her boot into Laura's ribs, breaking them fully and lodging one inside her lung.

Blood rose in the back of her throat. Laura collapsed to the Captain laughing as she struggled to choke on her own blood. On the ground, she felt a pair of cold lips press next to her ear.

“I only need one to give up,” it threatened, whispering with the screams of hell itself, “and you’re going to drown, so why fight?”

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Carmilla knew it wasn't real. That it was the restless spirit giving one last gasp of terror before passing on to whatever life awaited her. Damn woman needed to get over her pain already. Carmilla just listened to her lovers probably actually kill each other, and she only felt like seven elephants were sitting on her chest. Her breathing wasn't working, wheezing and gasping for air she didn't need.

"I should have taken you," came the voice that haunted her dreams for nearly a month. "You could have killed them all in seconds and I would be free."

Carmilla ignored her, instead choosing to survey her surroundings. They weren't immediately familiar, which was actually quite a nice experience for someone her age. The walls were lined with filled bookshelves, floor to ceiling. It smelled like every grand library Carmilla had ever been inside, old and dust-filled.

"If I recall correctly, Madame Butterfly, you tried that first," Carmilla taunted right back at 'the Captain'. Julie still didn't appear in Carmilla's view.

"The large one was the weakest option, nothing more, nothing less. I took the path of least resistance," Julie explained, a disembodied voice coming from through the modern air conditioning vents in the ceiling. That detail drew Carmilla's attention, it did not fit in with the rows and rows of old books. Some of them were leather bound!

"Danny constantly getting herself nearly killed has nothing to do with how strong or how weak she is," Carmilla started, rising from the floor in one fluid motion. She traced her fingers over familiar books with familiar titles. A thousand lifetimes swam around in her memories. "You picked her because you knew she'd never give up. Because she's strong. Because she’d kill for me, because she’d die for me. Do not pretend that this was about weakness and strength."

Julie fell silent.

Carmilla took the opportunity to search the room for both the woman still making her hallucinate and a way out. The dream state didn't extend too far out from the initial setting, that much she could tell from all of her previous experiences with the curse. A way out was futile. Julie only had enough power to make smaller settings, anything outside of the small library was probably out of the question.

"And," Carmilla continued, buying herself time, "she pretty much guaranteed that whatever soul you could convince us to sacrifice would sync with whatever devil you made a deal with. I understand that kind of thing takes quite some time to settle properly, a week for example."

Carmilla's ears prickled as she heard Julie's defeated whining.

Carmilla surged forward, her returned claws slashing into d'Aubingy's neck like it wasn't even there. The woman barely had time to gurgle in her own blood before she was tipping backwards and slamming on the floor.

"Vampire lady?"

Carmilla and the spirit froze mid-violence.

A little boy's voice. Small and scared. Carmilla didn't recognise it, she generally didn't know many little boys. The confusion spreading across Julie's face as well, confirming that it wasn't another of her tricks.

"Hello?" The boy's voice grew worried, anxious. Carmilla forgot about tearing out a warm throat in revenge, so insanely she found herself impressed by whatever piece of weird her mind was throwing at her today. Made sense, most of Julie’s power came from Carmilla anyway.

Somewhere off in the distance, a door slammed open and then closed. Keys jangled and child-like footsteps thundered away from the modest library her subconscious decided was a good place to battle the French woman.

"Jason?"

"What the fu-?" Carmilla cut herself off. That was Laura's voice. Her normal voice. All alive and not overtaken by a big pile of wanting to murder her girlfriends’. She remembered that she was on top of a malicious spirit who she had one hell of a grudge against and was possibly using the last of her power to distract Carmilla from getting out of one last nightmare and returning to Laura and Danny.

"Honey! Darling! I'm home!" That Carmilla heard clearly. Mostly because it was her own voice. Which was by far the weirdest thing to happen over the last month, including that one time Danny's body proposed for proof of soul reasons.

Julie froze. Her eyes were wide and she was fading faster than ever. She whipped her head around, as if she was only seeing where she had dragged Carmilla's unconscious mind to for the first time.

Silence. Carmilla wanted to find herself and strangle her for whatever the hell she thought she was saying.

"There are two of you and a girl can't be greeted when she gets home?"

The soft noise of sensible flats walking on hardwood floors made Carmilla smile, Laura. “Hey, you knew Danny’s at the base this week,” Laura admonished the Carmilla in the hallucination. Which, ‘base’? Odd.

“Vampire lady!” There was the little boy again. Carmilla pushed off Julie, using her exposed neck as leverage. “You came back!”

Carmilla heard Laura stifle a giggle before the other instance of herself answered the boy. “I said I would, didn’t I?”

“Why the fuck are we wherever the fuck this is, you French pain in my ass?” Carmilla demanded of the grand La Maupin. Julie, rather discouragingly, had the same confused expression on her face as Carmilla knew to be on her own. “This is just plain bizarre.”

“This is not me.”

Carmilla turned to glare at the spirit, though the woman was barely there anymore.

“I am sorry this happened to you,” Carmilla said slowly, noting how distracted Julie was suddenly. “Now it’s time to rest.”

“Rest?” The question barely registered to Carmilla’s ears. “I would like that.”

Carmilla felt the tension of her month release as La Maupin faded into nothing.

Her vision went white and she was left with unconsciousness, and the lingering fear that Danny and Laura hadn’t been quite so lucky with La Maupin’s last gasp.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Mother retold the story of her favourite little girl’s rebirth a thousand times, trying to possess the feat rather than a display of affection or pride. The broken Countess bursting out of the dirt of her grave not as a girl, but as a giant black cat. A defence mechanism, Mother called it, nothing more. Carmilla believed her until Ell, until Laura. Then she could use the odd power to protect even in their dreams, the animal taking over without a second thought from Carmilla herself.

When Perry awoke after the shock-wave bowled her over, all she saw was a familiar panther go racing off back into the trees. A broken, charred sword lying where the barrier once was, all the energy gone to finally find a host. Somewhere in the explosion she had dropped her stake, but it was useless anyway if La Maupin’s remaining life force caught Carmilla, or had already taken hold.

The panther disappeared into the trees and Perry was left with LaFontaine’s unconscious body and a weapon that was one way or another useless.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Laura wasn’t in pain. She considered it a miracle, though she did have to wonder why she could breath.

“Drowning is such a slow way to die,” came the awful French accent to torture her yet again. Laura lashed out at it, stopping when she caught sight of her own arm. Galaxies were printed onto her skin, running from her shoulder to her wrist. Constellations she knew from hours of stargazing with Carmilla and enraptured listening to Danny discuss the life cycles of stars with Scarlett curled up in front of a fireplace at the Summer Society Hunting Lodge.

“What the fuck?” Laura had to swear, too weird, too wrong. She traced the bright stars along her arm and recoiled as she saw that her other arm was covered as well. Flowers littered it, and her knuckles had a variety of meaningless symbols etched onto them. Feeling the art decorating her arms, she realised what they were.

Her Father was going to murder her, absolutely murder her. Right after she was done explaining Danny and Carmilla to him and he was done disowning her for that. Then he would try and grate the tattoos off her arms and hands. Laura would put up one hell of a fight, they were beautiful and felt like they’d always been a part of her skin.

“I am having an exceedingly bad day, so if you could please die faster so I have half a chance at life, you would be doing me a massive favour,” the woman begged. Laura ignored her, she could breath again. “How much power do I have to freaking give you to make you mine?”

The clearly insane and even more muddled woman didn’t see the logical error in her last-ditch plan. Laura could feel her displaced ribs receding into their proper places, her lung stitching itself back together as the intruder left.

Laura heard a low growl, comforting, behind her and resumed her inspection of her tattoos. “Hey Carm?”

The growling stopped for a moment, acknowledgement, and continued as Laura heard a boot crunch the ground in front of her. Laura slowly tore her eyes from her own body to identify why there was suddenly gravel. A garden, small yet just as pretty as the one on her arm.

“This isn’t real, is it?” Laura asked, already missing this dream. The flowers gave off an aroma that Laura couldn’t place and put down to being a fiction. A furry head butted into her back, and Laura sighed. Not real, shame. “That’s the lady from your nightmares, isn’t it?”

Another rubbing against her, the growling continuing throughout. The panther stalked around Laura to sit protectively in front of her. Laura reached out to scratch behind Carmilla’s ears in a show of affection that helpfully doubled as a chance to admire her own body art some more. Even the childishly scrawled shapes on her hands were entrancing. She watched her own fingers as they disappeared into black fur, and trailed her eyes up the flowers, matching image to smell in the garden around her.

“You don’t fear me?” France asked. Laura would learn who she was when she woke up, for now she didn’t especially care. “Should have taken you,” the woman mumbled, “much stronger.”

Before Laura could argue against the point, Carmilla was on top of the woman and Laura had to cover her own eyes. Sadly, the palms of her hands were still blank. She wondered how much that would hurt, getting them done too.

The panther came to rest next to Laura, dozing off for a moment before Carmilla was back on her paws and charging off elsewhere. Laura took less than a blink to figure out where, and she couldn’t help but yell her indignation.

“You didn’t check on Danny first?”

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Carmilla would have yelled back at Laura but getting to Danny before La Maupin did was paramount.

It was a much shorter run, and for the first time Carmilla beat the Frenchwoman to the punch. She stood guard over Danny’s unconscious body, aware that Perry, LaFontaine, and the doctor they brought with them would be there soon and she didn’t need to fight Julie on her own for very long.

She slipped away from reality again, dropping into Danny’s mind to see how she was being attacked.

Carmilla was met with blood. Endless blood. A battlefield, at least a hundred casualties all bleeding around her.

Thankful for her feline nose rather than her vampire one, Carmilla took off in search off Danny, morbidly checking for the scent of her blood rather than anything else.

A scream cut her search short, and gave her a direction to go flying in.

Julie d’Aubigny, presumably exactly how she looked in her prime, stood over the woman she had used to get around in the modern world.

Carmilla snarled and bared her teeth, she hissed and coiled ready to pounce until she noticed it.

Danny wasn’t breathing anymore, her body wasn’t bleeding. No blood to bleed anymore. Carmilla took her in and found her cold.

La Maupin was still there, it wasn’t her, she would have taken over.

Carmilla leapt anyway, taking out Julie’s last vestige of power with one strike of her claws.

Landing near Danny, she shifted, though it drained her to appear human in someone else’s mind.

The smell was unbearable, the dead’s blood was rancid and horrible and a last resort for the starving.

Carmilla fell to her knees next to Danny, Danny’s body, and searched her for whatever could have killed her. Tears spilt freely from her eyes and she took Danny into her arms when cause of death was clearly ‘in a war-zone’ and rocked her love back and forth. The last month felt very little all of a sudden. Danny was cold and Carmilla was far too late to stop it.

Carmilla held her close, burying her nose into Danny’s perfectly still neck and inhaling the last scent of life she had remaining. Around her there was silence.

They were free, curse broken, monster dead, evil defeated yet again.

Carmilla felt hollow.

 

* * *

 

 

  
For the first time in three long, sleepless days, Danny Lawrence opened her eyes.

She saw blinding white light and was momentarily panicked. Carmilla’s Mother was back and wanted to know Danny’s intentions with her daughter. Also, she’d married Laura’s father and they had fangs and torches and pitchforks and were coming for Danny’s throat. A mile away behind the brightness something started beeping loudly, and frequently as she slipped deeper into her fears.

Maybe the noise was Laura’s body giving out after her hard day of brutally killing Danny. Maybe Danny was dead and this was where sacrificed girls went. She tried to move, to communicate with Betty or Ell or any other of the taken girls but every inch of her screamed in protest. Danny was mostly sure that she’d heard this song before and the band would be having a reunion tour at some point in the future.

Then there was Carmilla’s voice.

The low, monotonous tone didn’t take heed of Danny’s panic, nor did it seem to react to the erratic beeping noises going on around them. All Carmilla’s voice did was speak softly near where Danny’s various pained body parts informed her one of her ears was. Carmilla’s wasn’t making any sense, though Danny did notice that this may have been caused by her choice to speak in Russian rather than a language Danny could understand. Danny strained her ears towards the noise anyway, taking comfort from it and the strength to not cry out at her pain.

Carmilla’s voice eased the brightness, and Danny’s eyes slid closed.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

  
Carmilla wasn't doing it on purpose. She promised herself that in the mirror every morning. Her new hunting grounds far, far away from the woods surrounding the Summer Society Hunting Lodge needed to be scouted out properly for signs of drunk college students and other hazards for her to avoid while allowing some of her more primal instincts out to play.

If by some chance her hunting times coincided with Laura being in their dorm room, then there was nothing Carmilla could do about it. Really.

She sat on the stairs leading to their hallway, listening to Laura drift off into a fitful sleep. It hurt that she didn't automatically want to reach out and help. The hesitance that tended to follow being hunted for future torture and murder wasn't a new feeling. This time it was relatively slight, nothing compared to planning to run from Mother with Ell. It stopped her all the same.

Julie, probably a perfectly nice lady in her remarkable life, made a weird kind of sense through her anguished crazy. It might not have killed them, but it nearly broke each of them.

Carmilla could feel Laura's mounting guilt. Danny was barely awake. Carmilla couldn't bring herself to go and comfort either of them when they knew she was doing it. They were a shambles.

"Fuck you," she said into the darkness. Trying to project her anger on a woman twice dead. It made her fell a tiny bit better about herself, though significantly less mature about her general life choices.

The next day, Carmilla made an effort to be in the room when Laura woke up from her broken night's sleep. She pretended to be asleep, curled up with far too many blankets covering her small body, hoping that Laura wouldn't see through her poor acting job. At least she didn't try to fake a snore.

Laura went about her morning routine without acknowledging that Carmilla was in the room, though she did do everything slower than normal. Carmilla very wrongly chalked this up to be fallout from her exhaustion and her still lingering fairly major injuries. Not as bad as Ser Danny suffered, but the Marquis did go through her share of pain in their little fight. Yet Laura didn’t move gingerly, as if protecting her wounded body. No, Laura moved like an animal clinging to the safety of a cave, the open world leaving her skittish and paranoid.

Carmilla deliberately shifted in her ‘sleep’ to get Laura’s attention and felt all the more idiotic for doing so. It had the desired effect, Laura paused at the door. Carmilla extended all of her senses to keep track of her girlfriend. She shifted again, exposing more of herself than Laura had seen for days, for example her face.

Laura whimpered in her own deliberation before she quickly crossed the room, leaned down and kissed Carmilla’s cheek before fleeing.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No one is dead. Yet.
> 
> We'll talk about Danny dying in Laura's sequel to this.
> 
> At like 7 to 2, fluff won! First part going up in about a week!


	21. The Countess Karnstein

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “We need to talk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are at the end. Hope you guys like it!

“We need to talk.”

Laura and Danny froze. Carmilla’s voice sliced through them. She stood in the open doorway, leaning casually against the frame with her arms folded. Laura’s heart charged away from her, knowing exactly what those words meant. She knew her stint as the Marquis wouldn’t go unpunished, and here it was. Carmilla was going to break up with her girlfriends and run off to some castle with another vampire woman. Their short mortal lives would end while Carmilla spent an actual eternity with her beloved. Meanwhile, Danny wasn’t fully out from underneath the pleasant warmth of painkillers, and grinned stupidly at the pretty lady in the doorway.

“What about?” Laura asked hopefully. She didn’t rise from her place at Danny’s bedside, but she shifted restlessly as Carmilla sauntered over. She perched herself delicately on the edge of the bed and took Danny’s hand into her own. “And before you answer I would like to point out that Danny’s not going to remember this tomorrow, and it’s cruel to be mean to the hospitalised,” Laura babbled.

Carmilla raised a questioning eyebrow at Laura’s rush of words. “Why is that relevant?”

Carmilla kissed Danny’s hand and stroked it affectionately. Laura struggled with her words, and floundered under the embarrassment of possibly assuming the wrong thing about Carmilla’s intentions. She should probably spend some time working on that. Danny kept her goofy smile on as the pretty lady seemed to like her and the mumbling chat they were having was completely irrelevant to her current interests. If the lady kept doing what she was doing, Danny saw no reason to complain or pay attention to anything else.

“Typically when a normal person starts a conversation with ‘we need to talk’, it’s promptly followed by the ending of relationships,” Laura explained, her cheeks reddening slightly with the feeling of being messed with, and at being wrong. She wasn’t sure which yet. Danny held her free arm out for Laura to take, emboldened by Carmilla’s loving attention. Two pretty ladies was better than one, her hazy brain rationalised. Laura grabbed the hand though she remained distracted by Carmilla. “Which I will respect if that’s what you decide.”

Carmilla gaped at Laura’s increasingly flustered appearance and shook her head to dispel the crazy. “Not what-”

“Though I would really like to stress the ‘Danny is literally still in a hospital bed’ part of this situation,” Laura butted in, squeezing Danny’s hand for strength. Danny made pleased noises in the back of her throat and Laura took a momentary break from freaking out to smile indulgently at her. “Anything you have to say to me is fine, but it’s really not cool of you to be doing this while she can’t defend herself.”

Carmilla shook her head in disbelief at her girlfriend. Danny giggled at the first pretty lady and her pretty hair moving around like that, and wasn’t aware of much else. Though she did whine when Laura let go of her hand to stand up and start pacing in her panicked state. “Hey!”

Laura spared a sympathetic glance to Danny and her adorable pouting while Carmilla leaned over to intertwine her free hand with Danny’s tragically abandoned one. Danny broke out into another broad grin, her eyes shining up at Carmilla though there was very little recognition in them as to who exactly Carmilla was aside from ‘woman I trust enough to hold hands with’.

“I understand that some things may have happened over the last month that would make you not want to be around either of us anymore,” Laura started up again, now pacing the length of Danny’s bed with her hair becoming increasingly wild as she flipped it violently with every turn. “However! That technically wasn’t either of us, and I know that doesn’t really make much of a difference when it comes to being scared of someone but we love you and will do anything to help you work through this.”

Laura wrung her hands and did not notice Carmilla’s amused smirk as she continued to wear a hole into the floor.

Danny raised Carmilla’s hand to her lips. “Countess, make her be quiet,” she slurred, glaring at Laura as she scrunched up her face in annoyance. “Lady Mircalla,” she continued before slumping back into silence.

“She seems fine to me, cupcake,” Carmilla pointed out, moving to free one of her hands. When Danny whined again, she decided it could stay where it was. “Clingy but fine.” Laura shot her an unimpressed look. “Too hypocritical?” Laura nodded, her freak-out all but forgotten. Carmilla was joking with her, she couldn’t have meant that she wanted them to break up if she was in such a good mood doing it, right?

“If you aren’t dumping us, then what is it?” Laura asked as she finally stopped pacing. She sat delicately on Danny’s other side, taking care not to nudge and of the wires or tubes connected to her girlfriend. Danny grinned lazily at her, her mind floating away into clouds and sunshine and the Countess and the evil but cute Marquis. Laura dismissed her contribution to the discussion. “You want to take a break from us?”

“Are you going to let me finish?” Carmilla diverted her attention from Laura to Danny’s hands, not willing to face the fear in Laura’s eyes. She had enough problems just getting the nerve up to start this conversation with either one of her girlfriends and this was the only chance she would get to talk to them individually.

“Quiet,” Danny urged at them both, though she glared only at Laura.

“Sorry, babe,” Carmilla apologised. Leaning over, she kissed Danny’s forehead tenderly and lowered her voice to a whisper. She would have moved away entirely but then Danny would be even more uncomfortable. “I have come to several conclusions over the last few weeks, and you aren’t going to like all of them.”

Laura tensed back up, believing her worst suspicions confirmed. She settled on they were breaking up, Carmilla was going to kill them both for their disaster-attracting blood, and then she was going to ride off into the sunset with her stupid vampire girlfriend. There would be break-up sex, which accounted neatly for the conclusions Carmilla thought she would like. “Okay,” she squeaked, trying to keep the panic at bay.

“Conclusion one: Scarlett is absolutely a time-traveller,” Carmilla said seriously. Danny raised their conjoined hands to smack at her girlfriend, failing horribly but getting her point across. “In my opinion, of which I still have no proof, Scarlett is a time-traveller,” she corrected.

“Better,” Danny said while nodding firmly. Laura wanted to strangle them both, re-considered on remembering why exactly Carmilla would want to leave her and to a lesser extent Danny. Strangling anyone would not help anything at this point. “Continue, Countess.”

Carmilla would have blushed if she were able, liking the Baronet shining through in regular Danny was going to bite her in the ass eventually. “Thank you, Ser Danny,” she addressed to the bedridden woman. “Secondly, we need to have a serious discussion about our living situation in the very near future. Thir-”

“Hey!” Danny interjected, her hazy mind finally catching up with Carmilla’s words. “I proposed and you,” she flung her captured hand in Carmilla’s general direction, “said no!”

Laura’s eyes went wide, and her mouth fell open. Carmilla smiled shyly at Danny, seemingly not taking notice that Laura was even still there. What the frilly heck had happened while they were under cursed conditions? “You what?” Laura shouted. Danny winced at the loud noise, freeing one of her hands to clutch in vain at her aching head.

“Laura!” Carmilla hissed. She cooed at Danny until she calmed from the shooting pain in her head. Laura felt her heart drop further, it had to be most of the way to Hell by now. How could she have gotten so out of sync with both of her girlfriends after just one week? “The Baronet Lawrence here decided that if I was married then you wouldn’t have a religious claim on my life.”

“Oh,” Laura breathed. Danny grinned at her title being used. Carmilla tried not to get frustrated by her girlfriends continually interrupting her. “That would not have worked,” Laura stage-whispered to Carmilla over Danny. Carmilla rolled her eyes.

“Which is why I said no, smarty-pants,” Carmilla explained, exasperated. “May I continue?” She raised her eyebrows first at Laura who shook her head quickly, getting hair in her mouth, and then to Danny who was smirking up at her.

“You said a whole big bunch more than ‘no’,” Danny slurred again. She frowned at her words not coming out the way she wanted them to before her eyes abruptly widened, “and then you said stuff like, you know, I know what she wants!” Danny looked to Laura with a dopey expression alight with joy and pride. Laura believed her, but had no faith in Danny’s ability to properly express whatever she was thinking.

“Don’t tell her,” Carmilla whispered harshly, nudging gently at Danny’s leg. “She’s cute when she squirms.” Danny nodded along enthusiastically. Laura was suddenly less apprehensive about whatever Carmilla wanted. “Third,” Carmilla stressed, glaring playfully at Danny, “I have several dreams that we will be pursuing after graduation.” Danny cried out again.

“I made dreams real and you yelled!” She clutched at her head, “ouch.”

Carmilla soothed her by running her hand through her hair, delighting in Danny’s pleased moaning. “Yes, you did. I mean other ones, dummy.”

“You’re dumb,” Danny retorted childishly.

“I miss you two fighting sometimes,” Laura mentioned mostly to herself. “Not that this isn’t great but-”

“Hey, Laura!” Laura’s grumbling stopped as Danny shifted focus. She raised a hand expectantly. Danny mulled over her word choice, eyebrows pulled together in concentration. After several seconds of silence, Carmilla leaned down and whispered in her ear. Danny smiled her thanks and turned back to Laura. “If you promise to be nice to her, Scarlett’s a Justice of the Peace who will totally marry us if you want?” Carmilla closed her eyes and chuckled at Danny’s declaration.

“Not quite, but close, dear,” Carmilla said as Laura gaped all over again at her girlfriends. “Do I have to be nice to Scarlett, and does that include not charging her with time-crimes?” Danny succeeded in her campaign to hit Carmilla playfully.

“Yes and yes!” Danny whispered harshly, like she and Carmilla were having a secret conversation that Laura obviously couldn’t hear.

“And I was getting to that part!” Carmilla whispered back, just as harsh. Danny huffed.

“You were taking too long!” Danny poked Carmilla’s arm. “Now say you wanna be with Laura forever, like a grown-up vampire,” Danny pushed, poking Carmilla with every word. Laura tried to stand and ended up falling away from the bed in her haste, a bout of dizziness wracking her sense of balance. Carmilla had her hands free of Danny and was around the bed in time to catch Laura as she fell.

Carmilla eased Laura into her arms next to the chair she had obviously spent the entire night’s worth of sleep. “Don’t hurt yourself, cupcake, I have all sorts of plans for you yet,” Carmilla murmured. “There might be rings of some kind involved.”

“Or bracelets!” Danny chirped though her face was creased with worry for Laura’s safety. Carmilla tilted her head in acknowledgement.

“Bracelets were also a discussed option,” agreed Carmilla, “though I believe your families would be more accepting of rings.”

Laura glared up at the vampire, not noticing that she was lying prone in Carmilla’s arms. Danny watched them both keenly as the haze in her mind brought down by painkillers receded further. The agony associated with her wounds made itself known slowly as the painkillers wore off. She squirmed uncomfortably. Resisting the urge to scratch at her healing wounds, Danny redoubled her focus on her girlfriends’, especially Laura’s unimpressed expression. She liked it when it wasn’t aimed at her.

“”More accepting’?” Laura repeated with a clipped tone. Carmilla winced while Danny fell back into her pillows with a pleased smile. “When have we ever been concerned with being accepted?”

“You know, cupcake,” Carmilla started as she lifted Laura back onto her feet. Laura kept on glaring the whole way up. “I am starting to come around to your point of view,” Carmilla conceded gracefully. Laura couldn’t react fast enough to keep the shock off her face.

“Boo,” Danny threw into the mix. She folded her arms resolutely to show her displeasure and immediately regretted the action. Carmilla and Laura were immediately at her side when she cried out in shock and pain. Her crossbow bolt wound, the related hairline fracture to her shoulder, and her most recent stabbing built on top of each other and the drugs were stopping her from gritting her teeth and baring the pain in silence. She waved a hand dismissively towards her worried girlfriends, stopping any admonishments or another bout of crying. Laura let out the breath she was holding while Carmilla wrapped an arm of comfort around Laura and grabbed Danny’s hand again.

“As I was saying,” Carmilla continued at a near whisper. As if the noise would shatter Danny’s careful equilibrium of pain and stillness. “You were right, Danny’s not okay, and we shouldn’t be talking about this while she’s like this.”

Danny pouted, and Laura nodded enthusiastically along with Carmilla’s words. A nurse came along and adjusted Danny’s painkillers in response to her outburst.

Carmilla and Laura avoided each other as they moved to sit on either side of their girlfriend. They forced themselves apart so Danny could be there, despite the overwhelming urge to get up and do something about Carmilla’s muddled declaration.

They sat in silence as Danny slowly allowed herself to slip back into blissful rest.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

Carmilla and Laura spent the next three days helping with any and all odd jobs any of their friends needed doing. Anything to avoid each other and Carmilla’s more long term feelings that hung between them. Laura refused to acknowledge that Carmilla was the one starting this conversation and Carmilla genuinely didn’t want to talk about it unless the real Danny could be there to contribute. Thus, a stalemate of sorts ensued.

Laura slept alone in their bed and Carmilla, unbeknown to pretty much everyone, curled herself on Danny’s bed in her basement at the Summer Society Hunting Lodge.

They went to see Danny in shifts, orchestrated by Carmilla and her newly returned super sensory abilities. Laura didn’t question her good fortune, and tried not to image what life would look like in another three years.

Danny became agitated as she was slowly weaned off her painkillers. The pain was horrible, but the restlessness was starting to eat away at her mind. She wasn’t comfortable bringing it up with either Laura or Carmilla, but she remembered the gist of the ‘Carmilla proposes, it goes badly’ incident. Unlike her girlfriends’ who seemed to be avoiding the subject and each other like they were cursed swords, Danny was actively planning how to fix it. She threatened Perry with getting out of her hospital bed until she caved and let Danny borrow her phone. Danny, Laura, the Summer Society girls, and all of the Zetas found that even though the curse was broken, all the electronics they had on them were pretty much fried.

Danny made a plan, and executed it. The reduced dose of painkillers dulled the terror, though she wasn’t about to let Laura and Carmilla know anything about that anytime in the near future.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Before Danny could pursue her plan, Laura appeared. Danny thanked the goddess that she wasn’t trying to leave her bed just quite yet. She could only imaging the cataclysmic event that would be Laura if she sensed Danny was operating outside the suggestions of her medical professionals. Laura picked her points to stand by carefully, and defended them to the death if need be.

Laura edged into the room slowly. Her hesitant steps and fidgeting hands belied her anxiety. Danny curled her legs up so the shoes she was wearing weren’t as noticeable, unconsciously mirroring Laura’s nerves. She watched Laura’s careful progression from the entrance to her bed, curious as to why her girlfriend was suddenly matching her prior hesitation to face Carmilla. Danny thought that Carmilla was the one the Marquis wanted to do truly horrible things to, not the Baronet. Danny got herself involved and considered herself to be a casualty, nothing major, nothing personal. An obstacle for the Marquis to remove, no malice except that which the Baronet drew onto herself.

Danny smiled, or tried to anyway. It was much closer to a grimace and thankfully Laura mistook it for physical discomfort and went with sympathy instead of suspicion.

“Hi,” Danny whispered when Laura drew within earshot. She gestured to her bed, offering her girlfriend a comfortable seat and some measure of intimacy. Laura ignored the gesture with a wince, choosing her uncomfortable plastic chair instead. Danny frowned, finally registering the subtle gesture of self-punishment Laura was partaking in. “You don’t have to sit-”

“Yes I do,” Laura asserted through gritted teeth, roughly biting down on her lip. More punishment, this time for taking a tone with Danny. “I-”

Danny waited for Laura to continue. She studied her surprisingly clean fingernails and cracked her knuckles to give Laura enough time to compose her thoughts. But no more words seemed to be coming. Danny wrestled with the urge to prompt Laura forwards, to ask whatever seemed to be bothering her. A flash of vicious hatred splayed across Laura’s-the Marquis’ face stopped her from offering comfort. The moment before her side was on fire. Before the Marquis won, would have won if not for Carmilla’s interference. Danny squeezed her eyes shut to dispel the vision, hoping that Laura took it for bodily pain again.

“I’ve spent the last five days trying the figure out what to say,” Laura started again, her voice cracking. Danny couldn’t look at her, knowing that she’d only interrupt, not confident in her own ability to allow Laura crying without an attempt to fix whatever was hurting her. “I’ve made lists, wrote some poems, all terrible, yelled in a mirror, screamed into my pillow, screamed into Carmilla’s pillow, and none of it helped.”

Laura slumped back and down into the hard blue plastic, covering her face with both hands. Danny caught the movement in the corner of her eye and let herself get a proper look at Laura. From what little she could see behind the hands, Laura spent the last three days while Danny was off with the pixies absolutely wrecking herself. Underneath her eyes were purple, the bare minimum of care had been given to her scrapes and scratches and yellowing bruises covered her arms and neck. Ser Danny might have lost overall, but the Marquis wasn’t as unscathed as Danny originally assumed. Laura’s hair was pulled up and hidden in a beanie, so she couldn’t have been taking care of it especially well. Laura hated beanies, unless Carmilla or Danny were wearing them, then they were like catnip to her tiny body. It was grey so probably Carmilla’s.

The tears fell. Sliding off her chin they splashed onto Laura’s heavy coat. Her own, Danny noted with slight displeasure. Laura liked wearing Danny’s coats usually, claiming that they made her look like Angel. Carmilla generally rolled her eyes at the reference. Laura didn’t seem to notice that she was crying.

“I tried to find the words to express how sorry I am, how I can’t apologise enough. I just,” Laura trailed off, finally wiping at her face. She cried silently for agonising minutes. Danny struggled not to join her, not to forgive her without another thought on the subject. Her remaining pain stopped her, killed the words before they could form. She wanted to forgive, to forget, but it hurt. All of it hurt. Laura’s face, her voice, all of her condemning Carmilla to Hell after torture and humiliation. Willingness to go through Danny to get at her goal.

It wasn’t Laura.

But the Baronet was Danny. Her half-cocked smirk before pursuing Carmilla, the way she bounced up and down in frustration whenever stumbling over her words, it was Danny. Different Danny, but still Danny.

Did that mean that a bigoted monster slept deep inside Laura? Danny looked the Devil herself in the eyes, and saw her girlfriend.

She could look past it, the love she held for Laura too strong and the burning hatred no doubt reflected in the Baronet’s eyes. Danny could look past the trauma, but found herself staring at it. At Laura. Her side hurt. Her shoulder hurt, her heart hurt. Everything hurt and one way or another Laura inflicted every wound.

To get Carmilla. The Marquis didn’t care about who Carmilla was, her reasoning for whatever crimes she may or may not have committed in the construct of the curse didn’t matter, only that she was a vampire and capable of great wrongs. That was all the Marquis needed to start a hunt. Not guilt, but the potential for guilt.

“You did what you felt was right,” Danny whispered, breaking the silence. Laura’s voiceless sobbing stopped, her hands falling away from her face. Danny’s entire body hurt, but she pushed herself up to a sitting position anyway. “You kept Carmilla tied to a chair for nine days, and that was just to get information.”

Laura shook her head, clearly not understanding where Danny was going with her line of thought.

“I’m saying you’re ruthless, Hollis, and that side of you was given a monster to hunt down and kill. I was given what seemed to be a damsel in distress,” Danny explained, “the curse played to the worst parts of us.”

“But I-”

“I know,” Danny cut off, her face betraying how much pain she was still in, “believe me, I know.” Laura deflated even further at Danny’s visible discomfort. “And I’ll heal, I’ve been hurt much worse than this and it took Carmilla less than a month to work through her issues with me after the dreams.”

Laura looked like she wanted to argue, but the words didn’t want to form. She settled for sitting up in her chair and attempting a smile.

“We’ll be okay, eventually,” Danny stated plainly, leaving no room for argument. Laura’s tears stopped flowing, though the clear urge to bolt from the room remained. Danny picked up on it with practised ease. “Why don’t you go back to the room and actually sleep, maybe eat something as well?”

Laura brightened, reaching over to squeeze Danny’s hand in thanks, too afraid of denial to attempt kissing her girlfriend. “I’ll be back later?”

The question in Laura’s voice hurt, but Danny understood why it was there. “You’d better be.”

Laura left, casting one last glance over her shoulder as she closed the door behind her.

Danny counted to three hundred in her head before swinging her legs out of the bed and setting off to put her plans into motion. She hoped Carmilla didn’t show up anytime before her usual mid-morning visit. The vampire would be able to track her down in moments and she didn’t need that.  
  


 

* * *

 

 

 

“Now that we can all agree that Danny’s well enough to have this discussion,” Laura started, striding into Danny’s hospital room with three coffee cups in a tray grasped in one hand and a sinfully large bag of cookies in the other.

“Danny is?” Carmilla smirked as Laura faltered. Danny was not in her bed. Though she smirked, Laura could see the worry creeping into the edges of Carmilla’s eyes. “She’s well enough to fly the coop, so I think she can handle a little chatting.”

Laura’s heart began to race, well beyond her control. She crossed the room quickly and set down her offerings, Carmilla leaping onto the coffee with enthusiasm she wouldn’t dare show around others. “Do you know where she is? Should she be out of bed?”

Carmilla drained half of her coffee in long gulps before holding a hand out to calm Laura. She swallowed loudly, grinning at the coffee cup as she placed it back in the tray. “She’s on her way back from the Summer Society Offices. Even Danny isn’t stubborn enough to go all the way back out to the Lodge in her condition.”

Laura set her with a look.

“Okay, maybe she is, but she didn’t!” Carmilla smiled brightly with optimism Laura still found odd despite more than a year of living with it. “We might be getting through her giant ginger skull!”

Laura squeezed her eyes closed for a moment. “How are you so calm about this?” Carmilla’s grin dropped at Laura’s almost angry tone. She stuttered around for several seconds.

“I have my powers back, cutie,” Carmilla stated plainly. She sat on the vacated bed and helped herself to a cookie. “I’m monitoring her from here, her heart’s going a bit fast but she’s otherwise fine,” Carmilla explained. Laura let herself relax a little. She ate a cookie to distract her nervous hands.

“How-”

“It’s-”

Laura and Carmilla stared at each other, internally kicking themselves at the sudden awkwardness in their relationship. Laura expected and braced for Carmilla being scared of her, of Carmilla hating her, but a declaration of intent to marry followed by days of silence was so far out of left field, they might as well have been playing hockey. Carmilla stewed in her embarrassment. She used what scarce scraps of courage she had on coming to Danny’s bedside days ago, and didn’t have the guts left to bring the subject up again. Laura ignored her for days, that was a clear enough answer. It hurt, but Carmilla was a grown-up vampire and she could handle a union of only words spoken rather than symbols exchanged.

The silence returned.

Fear and pride left them paralysed across from each other until Carmilla’s entire demeanour lit up with joy. Laura sat in confusion as Carmilla turned to face to doorway to the hospital room. Laura’s eyes followed Carmilla’s lead without her noticing.

The door flew open, revealing Danny Lawrence dressed in actual modern human clothing.

Laura felt butterflies in her stomach, like she’d never seen her long-term girlfriend before. She didn’t have time to analyse the feeling, Laura was distracted by Carmilla all but swooning over Danny.

Which, new!

“Really?” Carmilla asked, breathless and how Laura imagined the women to sound at the end of Jane Austen novels. She needed to bully one of the Summer Society girls into telling her what the heck happened in that Hunting Lodge. Maybe that one Carmilla thralled? “I can’t believe you’d-”

Danny smiled hesitantly as she approached the hospital bed she was supposed to be in, her gait slow and stilted, but upright and moving. “I haven’t signed it yet, and it’s only legally applicable at Silas so it’s a bit of an empty gesture,” she replied, blushing.

“Uh guys?” Laura couldn’t deal with a swooning Carmilla and Danny being all reticent. “What the hell!”

Danny reached them, Carmilla sprang up so her girlfriend could lie back in her bed. The vampire then moved to take Danny’s slip-on shoes off for her while Laura felt like shit for not being more helpful.

“It’s okay, cupcake, I’ve got her,” Carmilla reassured, seemingly reading Laura’s mind like she usually did. Danny opened her mouth to argue, but Carmilla cut her off. “This was the deal, Baronet, I let you go fight, so keep up your end,” Camilla insisted, poking the bottom of Danny’s foot. Laura’s eyes drew to a stack of papers clutched in Danny’s hand.

“For one week only, Countess,” Danny asserted with a mock-glare. Laura felt a burst of jealousy. They wasn’t going to be any affectionate ‘Marquis’ references in her future. No, she did not like being the villain, and did not understand why anyone would play the role willingly. “I have a variety of options for you to go over,” Danny said while pushing the papers towards Carmilla. Laura hated this, left out wasn’t a feeling she’d experienced for a long time.

“This one,” Carmilla announced, staring at the first page in the stack. Laura nearly whined, like Danny normally did. They probably didn’t even notice she was there, with the stupid secrets and the new pet names and the taking care of Danny and the agreements. Laura thought the world could swallow her whole and neither one of her girlfriends would notice for a long while. “Danny Mircalla Hollis.”

Laura’s pity-party continued for nearly a minute while her brain sorted through the words. They all made sense on their own, but in that order they just sounded silly. Nonsensical. She kept going with her devolving spiral of self-loathing until Carmilla’s swooning and a little bit of context came slamming into her like a horse at full charge. “Wait.”

“Change of name form, babe,” Danny explained, catching Laura’s eyes. “The Baronet respected her wishes and called her ‘Carmilla’ but referred to her as Mircalla in her head,” she said by way of explanation. Carmilla smiled softly at her but neither of her girlfriends’ noticed.

“And since you freaking outrank us, dear Marquis,” Carmilla started, moving around the bed gracefully and taking Laura’s hand, “we mutually feel that we should take your name.”

Laura’s brain stopped functioning as a conscious brain for a moment. Blank of words and feelings, she swam in the darkness until Danny spoke.

“That is, if you’ll have us?” Laura remained still and silent. Carmilla’s hand tightened around her own, worry starting to seep into the confidence Danny had built up in her.

“We could do something more official?” Carmilla ventured, ducking her head to get a better idea of Laura’s mindset. She found nothing, and started to grow concerned.

“Laura!” Danny effectively cut the knot. Laura startled but focused back into reality nonetheless. Carmilla rolled her eyes at the smug expression on Danny’s face. “Good plan or not?”

Nice, simple question. Laura could deal with that. Danny Lawrence was taking her last name, and finally giving herself a middle name. “She’s dead,” Laura pointed out to herself, snorting at her own joke. Danny Dead Woman Lawrence.

“No joke, cupcake?” Carmilla effectively stopped Laura’s silly train of thought. “The plan?”

“What plan?” Laura shot back, honestly confused.

“I’ll give you my family ring,” Carmilla held the ornate ring up for Laura’s inspection.

“I take your last name, and Carmilla’s for my middle name,” Danny added, pointing needlessly at the paper Carmilla selected.

“And you?” Laura asked Carmilla, avoiding dealing with what they were asking of her for a few more seconds. Danny interrupted whatever Carmilla was going to reply with by snatching the ring from her hands and flinging it across the room.

Carmilla and Laura stared at her, confused.

“I am barely out of hospital from the last old, pretty thing one of us decided to keep. No, we buy Laura a new ring-”

“And if Laura doesn’t want a ring?” Danny and Carmilla went silent. Carmilla smacked herself on the forehead while Danny went a brilliant shade of red.

“We did it-”

“-again!” Carmilla finished for Danny. “Sorry?”

“You said a while ago that your dream wedding involved rings being exchanged!” Danny argued. “These are just plans anyway.”

Laura’s indignant rage subsided. She sat on one side of Danny’s bed and motioned for Carmilla to join her. “I want a tattoo.”

Carmilla squeaked, Danny smirked. “Of?” Carmilla asked a full octave higher than usual.

“I don’t know, but that’s what I want.” Her girlfriends composed themselves, recovering quickly from their mutual embarrassment. After three years, they were both experts at dealing with their own mistakes regarding Laura, and Carmilla didn’t at all feel a jolt of victory when she got back to coherent thought-out speech before Danny.

“First thing: we write some kind of ‘Triple Check With Laura’s Wishes Before Making Decisions’ into whatever words we end up saying,” Carmilla suggested.

“Oh she has a list,” Danny groaned, the temporary gooey alliance between the two of them dissolved instantaneously. Danny raised both of her eyebrows at Laura, “of course she has a list.”

Carmilla lifted a hand to smack at her, and it remained hanging in the air as Carmilla checked out Danny’s entire body for an uninjured limb. Finding none, she let her arm slump and reached behind her to pull a heavily folded piece of paper from her back pocket. She took her time unfolding it, taking care to flatten every crease while her girlfriends seemed entranced by her fingers’ deft work. Carmilla studied the single page, squinting at her own tiny handwriting.

“She has an actual list,” Laura clarified, sitting in the chair she had claimed as soon as she was cleared to leave her own bed-ridden state. She tried not to think about how little she was physically affected by a week that nearly killed Danny twice and put Carmilla into bad choice after bad choice. No, really, the curse punctured one of her lungs and left her relatively unharmed, or the medical practises of Silas was extremely lop-sided. Laura focused closer on the piece of paper, spying Carmilla’s writing all over both sides in a haphazard design that she would normally turn her nose up at. “What else is on the list?”

Danny tucked herself into bed, her face the picture of a child awaiting a bedtime story from the hot babysitter. Though the haze was almost completely gone, she felt the aftereffects of the medication. Thoughts and memories stayed inside her head again, but forming educated conclusions based on the evidence still eluded her once per hour. Despite the Baronet witnessing Carmilla’s apparently long-standing desire for their relationship to be more official and tangible, Danny Lawrence herself couldn’t make the same easy connections her counterpart did.

“You only have yourselves to blame for this,” Carmilla teased. Danny squinted at the paper and raised an eyebrow in question. Carmilla held up a finger to stop her from verbalising the thought and interrupting her again. “Yes, that’s a sonnet, no it’s not related to the actual list.”

“She’s composing poetry about us again, darling,” Laura dramatically swooned onto the bed. Danny wrapped her good arm around her and pulled her tiny girlfriend gently into her side. Carmilla winked and stretched herself out on the end of the bed. Her eyes cut sharply between Laura and Danny, daring her girlfriends to make a cat joke. They responded with innocent grins, and Carmilla strangled a light growl before it could reach her throat.

Carmilla held up the paper, silently begging for some quiet. Laura leaned her head tenderly on Danny’s shoulder. Danny sipped her coffee. Once she was sure they were done interrupting, Carmilla continued.

“The second thing on my list is actually asking you both how you feel about kids.”

The coffee caught in Danny’s throat and Laura sat immobilised between wanting to thump her back and wanting to not make the injuries she inflicted worse. Laura’s immediate distraction stopped her from considering the question herself.

"Too soon?” Carmilla questioned innocently. Danny struggled to breathe. Laura fiddled with her own fingers, lost in thought. It took longer than her pride would let her admit but Danny eventually got her respiratory system under control.

“Carmilla!” Danny shouted, though her voice was tinged with scratching from the remnants of coffee. Carmilla set her with her very best condescending face, one honed to perfection back when she was alive, when she was Mircalla.

“We nearly died, all of us! Forgive me for thinking a little bit more forwards than usual,” she defended herself easily. Neither of them had a response, Laura steadily avoiding eye contact and Danny was suddenly extremely interested in her coffee. “All I want is if either of you have a definite no on the subject, not if you want to have seven kids next week.”

Laura smirked and shook her head. “Not an absolute no, though no time soon.” Danny nodded along with her.

“Eventually, yes,” Danny added, much more confident in her answer. “But we need to leave here first.”

Laura was immediately, obviously displeased by this apparent affront to her life’s work. Carmilla groaned, she really didn’t mean to start the Lawrence-Hollis War of the Future anew. The first round was bad enough and they’d managed to hold off for ages now. “We have a respons-”

“No, Laura, we don’t,” Danny interrupted, frustration creeping into her voice. “The weird of Silas is not your fault. Carmilla has paid her damn debt and I solemnly swear to never, ever touch another sword as long as I live!”

“But guns are fine?” Carmilla asked innocently. Danny glared. “All I’m saying is there’s going to be some violence in the fucking Army, Lawrence.”

Danny shrugged, and winced at her entire body protesting. “That’s a responsibility I have asked for and will be officially in charge of protecting people instead of stumbling around in the dark trying to save an entire university population by ourselves.”

Laura rolled her eyes. Danny and Carmilla continued to argue even as the vampire curled up on Danny’s bed and fell slowly asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be sure to subscribe to the series if you want more from this universe, more is very much on the way.
> 
> Also maybe check out my Lawstein Western AU, which I personally love to bits.
> 
> And thanks for reading all ninety-thousand words of this, I had a blast writing it!


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